


Lab Assistant

by espioc



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Grimlock gets a job, I haven't decided yet, M/M, Mech Preg, a very angry seeker, and a seeker, and a sparkling, but that last ones not on purpose, considered abandonment, courting, possibly sticky sexual interfacing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-08-29
Packaged: 2018-10-09 17:18:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10417140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/espioc/pseuds/espioc
Summary: It's peace time, and Grimlock is bored. His decision to get a job eventually leaves him for more than he bargained for.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have never written Grimlock before, hope this isn't too bad. (Please don't ask me how Megatron died because I don't freakin' know.)
> 
> It's warm in rare pair hell.

Peacetime was…

Boring. 

To put it simply. 

Grimlock sat lazily on the couch flipping absently through channels on the vid screen. His mind was void of real thought while the other dinobots either napped or wrestled. Which seemed to be the only thing they could do these days. They had served their purpose, helping to destroy so new things could be built. Well, now those new things had been built and the dino-bots, along with many other soldiers, had been told they could relax. 

Relax.

What a novel concept. Dinobots were not built to relax. It was a difficult thing to get used to, constantly relaxing. Grimlock found it boring, and useless. He felt useless. 

The t-rex clicked the vid-screen off and stood up, disturbing the slumbering Swoop who had snuggled up against him. Swoop sat up, watching as their leader walked off, “Where you Grimlock going?” he asked. 

“Me Grimlock go look for job,” 

“Job?!” The smallest dinobot sat up, becoming more attentive, “Why you Grimlock need job?”

The sudden outburst had caused all the activity in the room to stop. All of the Dinobots turned their attention to the head honcho, “Job?” Snarl repeated, looking around at his brothers, who were equally as confused. 

“Why you Grimlock need job?” Sludge inquired, stepping forward. 

“Because-” Grimlock seemed almost hesitant to answer. He reset his vocalizer before trying again. “Me Grimlock board.” he said, some annoyance making its way onto his tone, “Us Dinobots lazy. Me Grimlock want to do something, so me Grimlock go find job.” 

Slag practically scoffed, “You Grimlock don’t need job. Only job you Grimlock could get is for building, and us Dinobots not good at building.”

Grimlock put his hands on his hips, “That wrong and you know it, you Slag fix things all the time.”

Slag’s shoulders slumped as he crossed his arms, averting his gaze from the larger. Something close to a pout rested on his face. 

“Hm, Thought so,” Grimlock grumbled, then headed out the door, “Me Grimlock be back before dark. You Dinobots not destroy anything else while me gone.” 

The very large apartment that had been provided for them was scattered with chips of broken objects over the time they’d spent there. They gave up on cleaning every mess up, knowing that it was only a matter of time before another tail made contact with the wall. The space was big, certainly big enough for five dinobots to live comfortably, but accidents still happened. 

Grimlock made his way through the building and down into the streets. Some of the new arrivals still stared at him as he passed, amazed by the mere size of the bot. 

Grimlock walked with purpose, ignoring the frightened and bewildered stares that followed him. Such reactions were expected, and he’d gotten used to them in peace time. 

Peace time. 

Still weird. 

After Megatron perished it didn’t take a great deal of work establishing the factions and cities and putting up the borders. Peace time they called it. 

But barely. 

There was still quite a bit of tension between faction, but slowly they had begun to integrate. The Autobots and Decepticons had agreed on a ceasefire, meaning no one won, meaning no one got to lay claim. Together the leaders of the planet established who was allowed what city and how resources would be divided up and traded. 

It had been ten thousand years since then, one would expect the tension to have dissipated. It had not. Not entirely anyways, but boarders were becoming more open with every pass of the sun. In the beginning of peacetime Grimlock and his brothers were useful. It took nearly five thousand years to reestablish all of the usable cities. The planet itself still struggled. There were a few cities the leaders had decided to eradicate entirely, one of those being Kaon, which the second in command, Starscream, very quickly and happily wiped from the earth with the help of the remaining, cooperating, Decepticon army, as well as the Dinobots. 

That was Grimlock’s first assignment. Destroy Kaon. 

Destroy the city that had destroyed so many. It wasn’t an action of necessity, merely symbolism. Megatron was dead. His city would go with him. 

It was Starscream who’d insisted on it, Soundwave, the new leader of the Decepticons, simply agreed to it. His tone in the meeting was flat, but anyone could see he was more than willing to purge the cursed city from their peaceful world. 

Grimlock had been in the meeting. Optimus Prime had invited him. Grimlock still was not sure why, it wasn’t as though the leader of the Dinobots was anything of a politician. Despite this fact Optimus quite often encouraged Grimlock to attend meetings relating to what should and should not be destroyed, and what should and should not be rebuilt. 

After such meetings ended and all the work that needed to be done was done Grimlock was released from responsibility. He was told he and his brothers would be called upon if the city needed defending. 

That was five thousand years ago. 

Grimlock was tired of waiting for responsibility to come to him. He’d rested enough. Time to do something. 

Despite the intelligence he hid Grimlock was clueless on how to find a job. Most business owners were afraid of him, and all of the docks and other heavy lifting jobs were filled, as far as he knew. The T-rex wasn’t sure where else to look. 

But he knew someone who would. 

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------

 

“A job?” Ratchet inquired, lifting a brow but not looking up from his data pad. Grimlock followed the medic as he walked about the hospital checking up on patience, “Well you can’t get one here, that’s for sure. The last thing I need is a Dinobot stomping around the _ hospital.”  _

“Me Grimlock not need job in hospital. Me Grimlock just need  _ something.”  _

Ratchet glanced back at the large body, “Well, then, why don’t you go ask Optimus? I know you’re not on the best terms but-”

“Him Optimus, not want to give me Grimlock job. Him Optimus just want us to lay around, lazy, until we need defend the city.”

“I’m sure that’s not going to happen any time soon,” the medic grumbled to himself, then stopping in front of a door. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nasal ridge, “Look, Grimlock, I’m not the one to ask. I know you and Optimus have had your...differences. But he’s really the one to ask,” Ratchet waved a hand, “Now-- run along. I’ve got work to do.” 

Grimlock let out an annoyed sigh, but decided it best to let the medic alone. 

Despite a great deal of disdain, and a bit more looking to no avail, Grimlock decided to heed Ratchet’s advice and go to Optimus Prime. The leader could assign anyone a job who asked for one. While Grimlock didn’t like sitting around all day doing nothing he hated even more the idea of doing busy work, which he was sure Optimus would give him.

Grimlock was allowed a meeting with the autobot leader right away. Not only because he was a “friend,” but because their glorious leader apparently had nothing better to do.

“Grimlock,” Optimus greeted pleasantly. His eyes smiled. 

Grimlock was practically glaring. Him and Optimus did not get along, despite the Primes efforts to mend the bonds between them. 

“Please, sit,” Optimus offered, gesturing the seat before his desk, ‘What brings you here?”

“Me Grimlock want job,” the dinobot answered, “You, Optimus, can give me one.” Grimlock kept his arms crossed over his chest and did not accept the seat offered to him. He wouldn’t have fit very well anyways. 

Optimus almost seemed surprised by the request. He jolted back just slightly, his eyes widening a bit, “I see,” he said carefully, placing his hands on the desk and running it over a data pad, “I’ll--” he seemed hesitant as he slipped a data pad into his hand, “I’ll see what there is for someone of you--” he took a moment to look the dinobot over, “Stature.”

He scrolled through the data pad. His gaze was intense, concentrated, but also somewhat confused, with a twinge of concern setting in under everything else. 

Grimlock waited patiently as the Autobot leader sifted through job listings. 

It was twenty klicks before Optimus finally found something, “lab assistant,” he read carefully, then looking up to Grimlock, “For Skyfire and Wheeljack. It says they need a heavy lifter.”

“Fine,” Grimlock agreed, “Me Grimlock take that.”

Optimus seemed hesitant again. He wanted to tell the Dinobot that they should check with the bots who put out the request first before giving him the job. Prime was sure that wouldn’t bode well, however, and decided instead to just go with it, “I’ll tell them I’ve found their guy then,” he said, putting a finger to his comm. 

“Skyfire,” Optimus sounded almost surprised when the scientist picked up, “I believe I’ve found you a suitable lab assistant,” he threw a glance at Grimlock, who stood like a rock. 

“I’ll send him down then. I think he can start today.”

When Optimus glanced up that time Grimlock gave him a stiff nod. 

“Great. I’ll send him right down. Prime out.” the comm disconnected, bringing Optimus’ full attention back to the Dinobot, “I trust you know where the science center is.”

“Me Grimlock know,” he almost snapped, “Me Grimlock head there now.” he made his way towards the door but stopped before fully exiting. He took a moment before looking back at the leader, “Me Grimlock...thank-- Optimus Prime.”  

Optimus smiled under his mask, “Any time.” 

Grimlock let out a gruff hum of acknowledgement. With that he was gone, heading off to the science center. 

 

\--------------------------------------------

 

To say Skyfire was surprised would be an understatement. The only reason his lab was large enough to fit the massive dinobot was because Skyfire himself needed the room. The last thing the shuttle expected when Optimus said he’d found them a lab assistant was Grimlock, of all bots. He wasn’t the largest Dinobot, sure, but he wasn’t the smallest. 

Grimlock did not outweigh Skyfire by much. Mass wise, however, the Dinobot was huge. He was ripe with pure, unbridled strength. Everything about the mech was very.  _ Intense.  _ For lack of a better word. 

“So,” Skyfire started, trying to get over his shock, “Optimus assigned you as our lab assistant.” he stated, not really a question but close to it. 

“Me Grimlock do whatever you Skyfire need. Me Grimlock just need something to do,” Grimlock stated stiffly. His posture and tone lightened just slightly, “Me Grimlock will be Careful. Know things in lab can be sensitive.”

Before Skyfire could say anything a large boom erupted from the next room, sending a flurry of smoke into the hangar. 

“That stupid lab mate of yours just  _ ruined _ another one of my projects!” Starscream announced, stomping into the lab.

A second later Wheeljack came flying to the doorway, nearly stumbling as he fell to a stop at the frame, “I’ll have you know I’m a genius!” 

Both of the new arrivals were covered with scorch marks and oil. Starscream, still fuming, came to stand before his former larb partner, “When am I going to get my own lab?” the seeker inquired, cocking a hip and waving a hand around as if gesturing the room, “You all get a space in  _ our _ science center.” he pointed out testily, “When is Optimus going to approve my space?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“As soon as we  _ get  _ the space,” Skyfire answered calmly, “You know all of the labs are filled up right now, you’ll just have to wait until the new addition is complete,” the shuttle smirked, “For now I’m sure you can handle sharing a space with Wheeljack just a little longer.” 

Starscream nearly growled. His lip twisted into a sneer, “For lab partner’s you two certainly don’t spend a lot of lab time together.”

“Our partnership is temporary, until Perceptor and Brianstorm return from their Field Mission.” 

Starscream scoffed, “Then I don’t see any reason why  _ I  _ can’t take Wheeljack’s lab, and you two can share this monument t space,” he spread his arms out, as if demonstrating the volume of the room. 

Skyfire nearly scowled, “Because this is my center, and that’s  _ his  _ lab. I can’t force someone to vaccate their facility.” 

Starscream scowled but didn’t argue. His attention turned to Grimlock, “What is he doing here?” he asked. It was a genuine enquiry, no poison spat. The even tone almost surprised Skyfire, though he tried to keep it hidden. 

“He’s our new lab assistant.”

Starscream lifted a brow, “I thought you were waiting for the other two to return before you got an assistant.” 

“Well, things change. He’ll be helping us on the field mission--”

“I’m still accompanying you on that, right?”

“Uh-- Yes, Star, nothing has changed. Anyways, he’ll be helping us on the upcoming field mission as well as in the lab…” Skyfire hesitated before voicing the next thing on his mind, “Remind me again why you’re accompanying us?”

Grimlock didn’t think a scowl could get any deeper. 

“Peace time,” Starscream snapped, “We work together. It’s been this way for thousands of years now.” 

Wheeljack stepped out of his lab, rubbing his hands on an already oil streaked cloth, “Thousands of years or not, you’ve been spendin’ a lot of time on this side of the pond, Starscream,” he threw the rag onto a work bench as he approached the group, “Aren’t there any good lab partner’s on your end?”

Starscream scoffed, crossing his arms again, “Hardly. My only real option is Shockwave, and he prefers to work alone. Not as though I’d want to partner with him anyways.”  

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re over here all the time.” 

Starscream leaned over just slightly, glaring at the shorter bot, “You really think I want to spend all my time with the one eyed wonder?” he stood up straight, “Beside’s our glorious “leaders” requested I stay over here for the time being. Something about being erratic, or -- some other nonsense,” he grumbled, turning and heading back to the lab. He stopped in the doorway and glanced back at his colleagues, “something about not being a “team player” whatever that means.” 

“It means working together with others without screeching at them,” Wheeljack clarified, following his lab guest in. Starscream simply scoffed. 

Skyfire turned his attention back to Grimlock, “Think you can handle those two?” he smirked, “You’ll be working with them a lot.” 

“Me Grimlock can handle whiny seeker and mad science partner.” 

Skyfire puffed out a laugh, “Don’t let Starscream hear call him that. You think he’s screechy now-”

Starscream yelled at them from the other lab, “I can hear you!” he came storming into the room, pointing a sharp finger at the much taller dinobot, “One warning, Dinobot, you call me ‘Screamer’ once, I’ll rip your vocalizer out through your audio receptors.”  

Skyfire nearly laughed, looking to the new lab assistant, “He’s serious you know, I’ve seen him do it,” he joked, then turned his attention back to the fuming seeker, “You know, Starscream, taking that tone really doesn’t help your cause.” 

Starscream huffed, “You think you’re so funny,” he grumbled, stomping back to the smaller lab, “I get enough banter from my trine mates, I don’t need it from you lot.” 

Grimlock watched as the seeker walked away. His optics locked onto the proud wings before his attention was drawn away from the body.

“He’s moody,” Skyfire said, drawing Grimlocks attention, “You get used to it. He’s much calmer in the field. Speaking of which,” Skyfire drew a data pad from his subspace, “We’ll be going on a field mission about a lunar cycle from now, not long after our partner’s return from the one they’re on currently.” 

Grimlock took the datapad presented to him, “That’s the itinerary for the mission. What we’ll need, what we’ll be doing. We’re headed off to the mountains to do some testing and plant some scanners to record any seismic activity. We also want to collect samples from some of the wildlife, maybe tag a few species. Read through it, we’ll be leaving early in the morning. There isn’t much training that needs to be done for this mission, most of the materials are going to be flown in.”

Grimlock looked over the datapad as Skyfire spoke. He waited patiently until the shuttle finished to ask any questions, “How long we spend on mission?” he inquired.

“It should be a lunar cycle, but depending on how things go it may be shorter or longer.” 

Grimlock gave a stiff nod, “Me Grimlock, thank you Skyfire. Anything you want me Grimlock to do today?”

Skyfire took a moment to think. He smiled at the Dinobot, “I’d recommend observing,” he answered after a moment, “Getting used to how things run around here can be-” he was cut off by another explosion, followed by a sound that was remarkably similar to a screech. 

“Interesting,” Skyfire finished. 

Starscream came fuming out of the smaller lab for a third time, his frame smeared with even more oil and scorch marks, “Comm me when your resident mad scientist is finished working, I’ll be in my hab suit.” 

“Why don’t you give Grimlock a tour of the facility,” Skyfire recommended, “You know it well enough,” 

Starscream paused on his way to the door. He turned his head, looking over his shoulder at the t-rex. The seekers eyes were sharp and contemplating. After a moment he spoke. “Well come on, big boy, it’s not like I’ve got anything better to do.”

Grimlock was almost surprised by the tone of the offer. It was low and almost-- flirtatious. 

The dinobot shook the thought from his mind and tucked the datapad in his subspace before following the seeker out. 

The tour was boring . Starscream’s deadpan didn’t help. But, Grimlock had been told to observe, so observe he did. Grease covered wings hiked up against their owners back. The bit of crimson that peaked through the scorch marks. Taloned fingers waving about. And legs. 

Long, long, legs.

Grimlock didn’t notice when they stopped. It took him a second to figure out Starscream was looking at him, “We’ve reached my hab suit,” he announced, side eyeing the dinobot. The seeker’s face was set in a scowl. 

Or maybe that was his default expression, Grimlock couldn’t tell. 

Starscream smirked, “You can quit gawking now.” he pressed the code into the keypad, “I trust you’ll be able to find your way back.” now he was looking at the larger bot, smirk still set on his face, “See ya later, big guy,” then he was gone, slipping into his hab suit and leaving a very warm Dinobot behind him. 

Grimlock shook himself from his trance and stood there for a second before making his way back to the lab where he would be working. 

It was then that it dawned on him. 

Working. 

Hm. 

And with the scientists no less. 

That was fast. 

He wondered if it was a good idea to continue his simpleton facade. Keeping his intelligence a secret had originally been a strategic move, one that had not been serving him well lately. He decided to sit on the matter. In the meantime he would do what he was told and observe. Actually observe. Not simply gaze upon something fetching. 

He returned to the lab, was given a stool, and wasn’t really bothered for the remainder of his shift. Skyfire would, every once in awhile, provide a commentary if something particularly strange seemed to be happening. 

While Grimlock was not horribly fond of the job he’d been assigned to by Optimus Prime, he didn’t hate it either. He would take it seriously, try not to break anything, do what his new employers asked of him, all that jazz. It still felt like busy work, however, and right now he wasn’t doing anything, so it certainly didn’t do anything to peak his boredom. Not yet anyway.    

Starscream returned to the lab in the middle of the day. The presence of the bright red figure drew most of the dinobots attention, despite great attempts to keep his mind on the task at hand. 

Well, the task at hand was observing. Letting his eyes drift to the still fuming seeker counted, didn’t it? Grimlock liked to think it did.

Starscream had cleaned himself up and was careful to stay away from any more of Wheeljack’s experiments. He practically forced himself into Skyfire’s lab, taking a place at a work table with a glare that said “Try to stop me”  

Skyfire shook his head but let the seeker alone. He wasn’t disturbing anything. 

Grimlock found himself staring in the direction of Starscream more than he was comfortable with. Eventually his gaze fell to the seeker out of boredom. Grimlock tried to be nonchalant about it. Turning his head away when Starscream glanced at him.

The seeker seemed irritated. But who could tell? He always seemed irritated. 

It was late in the day when Starscream leaped from his stool and strode over to the Dinobot. 

Grimlock sat to attention as the seeker approached, “You, Dinobot,” Starscream demanded, coming to a stop, “You’re the new lab assistant, right?”

Grimlock merely nodded. 

Starscream smirked, “Excellent,” his smile disappeared, “I need you to help me with something,” he turned on his heel and headed back towards the table he’d been working at, expecting Grimlock to follow. The Dinobot hesitated a moment before stepping off his seat and following the seeker. 

“What you Starscream need me Grimlock to do?’ the t-rex inquired when they stopped at the desk. 

Starscream heaved something up onto the work table as he spoke, “I need you to hold things and hand me things. And you can quit with the ‘me Grimlock’ act. It’s getting annoying, we all know you’re smarter than that.” he began flipping through and tugging out some of the components on the machine he’d lugged onto the table. It appeared to be a motor of some sort, but it was old, rusted even. 

Starscream drew some colorful cables from the edge of the desk and dug through the rust on his project to plug them in. He snipped and adjusted a couple piece of equipment while Grimlock lingered behind him. The Dinobot was taken by surprise when a small power core was shoved into his chest with a stiff, “Hold this.” 

Grimlock watched as Starscream worked. He was quick in his work, as though he knew exactly what he needed to do and how to do it. Grimlock looked over the work table Starscream had confiscated from Skyfire. It was scattered with data pads, filled with notes, observation, schematics, and equations. He’d been scribbling relentlessly at them all day, only ever looking up to see if Grimlock was staring at him, which he always was. 

Grimlock was brought back from his thought by a pair of safety goggles snapping over his optics, “You’ll want those,” Starscream said flatly, sitting back on his stool. He put a small laser welder to the machine and began working. Bright blue sparks leaped off the metal as cracks were mended and components were adjusted. Starscream wore a red pair of safety glasses as he worked, apparently not wanting to stray far from his own natural appearance. After a few moments of welding he put his hand out and flicked his fingers, requesting the power core, which Grimlock quickly delivered. 

The Dinobot watched with great interest as Starscream practically shoved the power source into the open compartment of the machine. He shut the hatch on top of it and scrubbed away a bit more rust with his hand before turning his finger to the power switch. 

Starscream’s vents hitched before he flicked a finger to turn it on. He seemed to hesitate. It was the only time Grimlock had seen a lapse in confidence from the seeker. 

A second later the switch was flipped. 

The machine hummed to life. 

Starscream watched it carefully. 

It hummed with life for about a single klik before fizzing out and powering itself down. Starscream swore to himself before tearing the hatch open and ripping the power core out. He all but slammed it onto the table, “Ever worked in a lab before?” he growled, already rearranging components. 

“No,” Grimlock answered, “Why?”

“Do you know what a freezer is?”

“Yes.” 

“Do you know where we keep the empty data pads?”

“Yes.”

“Good. If you would be so kind--” Starscream grunted as he ripped a sheath of wire from it’s housing, “In the freezer there are samples labeled SS, get them for me. Then grab a few datapads, we need to record our findings.”

Grimlock did as he was told. He carefully retrieved the petri dishes from the freezer and rested them beside Starscream’s work space before going to retrive the data pads. He handed them all to Starscream, who then handed a couple of them back, “Write down what you see, we’ll compare notes.”

A voice rang out behind them, “Tomorrow.” Skyfire cut in, approaching the pair. Starscream hardly spared his former lab partner a glance as he turned all of his attention to the machine, “I just need--”

“No, Star,” Skyfire said sternly, “the lab is shutting down. Settle your project and move out.”

“But-”

“No.” 

Starscream let out an annoyed growl before slamming his tool angrily into the table and leaping off his stool, dragging the machine with him. He practically threw it into Grimlock’s arms, lucky the Dinobot reacted quickly enough to catch it. 

“No working outside the lab,” Skyfire said, crossing his arms over his chest. He seemed to be reminding Starscream of this, as if it was an issue they’d dealt with before. Skyfire turned his attention to Grimlock, “Grimlock, once you’re done cleaning up, would you mind escorting our Decepticon guest back to his room? Starscream has a nasty habit of sneaking back into the facility after hours.”

Starscream glowered at the shuttle, “Don’t patronize me,” he spat, collecting the petri dishes, “I don’t need an  _ escort.”  _ he growled, a bit of venom slipping into his tone as he passed the large white bot. Grimlock watched the scene with amusement, shifting the machine he’d been given to one hand. 

Skyfire shook his head as Starscream passed, then made his way over to Grimlock, “I’ll take that,” said the shuttle, shipping his hands over the project, “You just get him out of here. He’s a late worker, he’d sleep in here if I’d let him.”

“Would not,” Starscream huffed, stomping back over. He turned his attention to Grimlock. “Go home, Dinobot, he may be your boss but that doesn’t mean you have to listen to him.” 

Skyfire rolled his eyes but didn’t argue. He put a hand on Grimlock’s shoulder. “Good luck, my friend. Make sure he doesn’t bite your hand off.” 

“Have you seen that happen too?” Grimlock joked

Skyfire chucked, ‘Why do you think Shockwave only has one hand?” 

The two large bots laughed together until Starscream cut in, “Are you  _ done  _ yet?” he snapped, tapping his foot impatiently. “I thought you wanted me  _ out  _ remember?”

Skyfire shot an amused smile to his smaller colleague, “And I thought you didn’t want an escort?” 

Starscream’s face remained stoic, but his wings fluttered with embarrassment. He turned on a heel and headed for the exit, not willing to say anything more. 

Skyfire gave a light pat to Grimlock’s shoulder before encouraging him to follow the seeker, “he might screech at you, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take. Wheeljack usual does it, but, well--” he shrugged, but gave no other clue as to where Wheeljack was. 

Grimlock could only assume he was either passed out cold or in the med bay. Or both. 

The Dinobot followed the shuttle’s orders, though somewhat reluctantly. He wasn’t horribly fond of being told what to do, but he supposed he could live with it. A job was a job, that’s all he wanted. 

Grimlock trailed the red bot. Starscream was still huffing when they left the lab, but he managed to calm down by the time they reached the hab suit. 

Starscream hummed out a small laugh as he pressed the code in. The Dinobot was still looking at him. The seeker side eyed his escort with a smirk before turning fully to him, “Care to join me for a nightcap?” he asked with a smirk. 

Grimlock’s brow furrowed with confusion, “A what?” 

“It’s an earth term. It means, a bit of high grade before bed. It’s late. Or haven’t you looked outside?”

Grimlock looked around for a moment but found no windows. His gaze fell back to the seeker, waiting patiently beside the open door. 

“No.” Grimlock answered sternly. More for himself than Starscream, “I told my brothers I’d be back before dark.”

Starscream hummed, smirk gone, “Shame,” he vented, “See you tomorrow then, big guy.” he slipped into his room without another sound, and quickly let the door shut behind him. 

Grimlock stood there for a moment, contemplating his decision. 

 

\-----------------------------------------------

 

As soon as Grimlock returned to his shared apartment the Dinobots were on him. Swoop poked him in the chest, ‘You Grimlock late,” he said in the angriest tone he could muster, “It dark out, you Grimlock not back.” he threw a hand towards the large window that made up the back wall, showing his brother that it was, indeed, dark out. 

Grimlock moved past his brother, “Got job,” he said, heading towards his room, “Ran late.”

Snarl sniffed the air, “You, Grimlock, smell like acid and cleaning stuff.”

“Me Grimlock work in lab now.”

“And smoke,” Sludge added, “Much like smoke.”

Grimlock turned to his brothers, “Me Grimlock work in lab with  _ Wheeljack.”  _

All of the dinobots let out a simultaneous ‘Ooooohh,’ then turned back to what they were doing. Well, most of them did. Swoop stood smirking in front of his brother, “Who  _ else  _ working in lab with Wheeljack?” 

“Skyfire.” Grimlock answered quickly, then rushing towards his room again, “Me Grimlock go to bed, me Grimlock have job now, good night.” 

He rushed into his room, nearly slamming the door behind him. 

Grimlock fell into his berth, dead set on falling into recharge as quickly as possible. 

  
Tomorrow would probably be very interesting. 


	2. Chapter 2

Grimlock, despite his hatred for busy work, actually liked working in the lab. He helped Skyfire for the most part, only occasionally being called to assist Wheeljack on some of his bigger projects. Starscream, after their first interaction, had yet to call upon the Dinobot again. He did, however, allow the beast to escort him to his hab suite every night upon Skyfire’s request. Starscream was initially huffy about this, but soon grew used to it. 

“Lazy fraggers,” Starscream mumbled as he walked beside Grimlock. “One of them should escort me themselves for once. Or have enough faith to know I won’t do anything as  _ stupid  _ as break the rules within an autobot facility,”  the seeker complained. It was odd he was walking beside Grimlock, usually he walked a few paces ahead. 

The Dinobot looked down at the smaller bot. “Doesn’t he do this because you  _ have  _ broken the rules before?” he inquired.

Starscream waved a dismissive hand. “And I learned from it,” he put a hand to his chest. “I  _ am  _ capable of such a thing, you know, despite what everyone says.”

Grimlock smiled inwardly. “Could have fooled me,” he muttered, only half hoping the smaller bot couldn’t hear him. 

Starscream shot him a glare but said nothing. They reached his hab suit a few seconds later where Starscream made the offer he had every night for the past two weeks. “Care to join me for a nightcap?” he asked, somewhat more absent than usual as he typed in the pass code. He wasn’t expecting Grimlock to say ‘yes’ but it never hurt to try. 

Over and over and over and over again. 

“Why?” Grimlock asked. Every night Starscream asked the same thing, and every night Grimlock said ‘no.’ He’d never actually stopped to wonder why Starscream might be offering. 

The seeker almost looked surprised by the question. He flashed the dinobot a glance. “Why?” he repeated. 

“Yes...Why?” Grimlock decided not to elaborate. 

“I-” Starscream nearly stuttered. In truth he didn’t really know why. Maybe he just liked the company. That was what he went with. “I-- like the company,” he eventually spit out, barely trying to hide the lie. 

Grimlock found it odd. Starscream was usually such a smooth liar. 

“Okay,” he agreed. 

The seeker looked at him again as the door slid open. 

“Okay?” he drew out, questioning it’s meaning. 

“I will join you for a nightcap.” 

After the surprise subsided Starscream smirked. “It’s about time,” he slipped into the room, expecting Grimlock to follow. 

The Dinobot hesitated. He tried to consider how good or bad this idea was. Being in any way intoxicated around Starscream could spell trouble. 

Or-- it couldn’t. 

Grimlock forced his pedes to move. He had to duck a bit to get through the door. 

The suit was-- nice. Quite nice actually. The entire back wall was a window. Upon entering Grimlock was met with a couch and vid screen. The other half of the room was occupied by a berthroom. The two spaces were only separated by a half wall. That was all Grimlock could see from the door, so the energon dispenser and Wash racks must’ve been hiding somewhere. 

Starscream plopped down on the couch before placing two glasses and a bottle of engex on the table. “Well, are you going to sit, or what?” he asked impatiently, pulling the top off the bottle. “I don’t have all night.”

Grimlock stared for a moment before making his way to the couch. He sat down carefully, not wanting to break anything. He was handed a full glass of high grade as soon as his rump hit the cushion. 

“Drink up,” Starscream encouraged. He leaned back so that he was leaning on one of the armrests. His pedes came to rest atop the cushions as he sipped at the high grade in his glass. 

They sat in silence for a bit while both nursed their drinks. 

It didn’t feel awkward. Not for Grimlock anyways. He leaned back, placed an arm on the rest, practically made himself at home. The high-grade burned the back of his throat. It’d been a long time since he’d had a proper drink. They didn’t really keep anything like engex in their apartment, none of the Dinobots were keen to indulge in it. At least not often enough to have it on hand. 

“Why did you say yes?” Starscream asked, just barely breaking the silence. 

“Why do you always ask?” Grimlock countered immediately

Starscream took a sip. “I asked you first,” there was no venom in the tone. No playfulness, no smirk. It was dry, uncommon for the seeker. 

“I wanted to know why,” Grimlock answered honestly. “And it couldn’t hurt.”

“I’m relieved you’ve begun speaking like a normal bot,” Starscream said, seeming to completely ignore the answer. “It was beginning to get on my nerves, your simple minded drawl.”

Grimlocks optics dimmed with the acknowledgement that Starscream was avoiding his question. 

“My question,” the Dinobot pushed. “Answer.”

“I already answered,” Starscream took a sip. “I like the company,” he repeated. 

“Lie,” Grimlock accused. “Tell me, Grimlock, the truth.”

Starscream narrowed his eyes at the bot. His lip twisted with a closed mouth sneer as Grimlock reverting to his old speaking habits. It was almost a good strategic move. Starscream indulged in another sip before answering. He shrugged a shoulder. “I’m not sure,” he answered honestly, then smirked. “Maybe it’s because there’s no bot in his right mind who would ever consider spending a conceivable amount of time with me. Alone that is,” another sip. “I’m just trying to make friends on the Autobot side of things. We’re supposed to be making nice, right?” 

It sounded honest enough, but one could never be sure with Starscream. If he wanted to conceal a lie he could, without issue. Grimlock decided to accept the answer for now. He went to take another gulp of his drink, only to realize it was all gone.

“Care for another?” Starscream offered, holding up the bottle. 

Without hesitation Grimlock put his cup out. Starscream filled it, nearly to the rim. The Dinobot looked down at his cup. “You’re not trying to get me over-charged, are you?” he asked, then looking to the seeker. 

“Of course not,” Starscream answered blankly, refilling his own cup. “The last thing I need is an over-charged dino stumbling about my apartment,” he put the bottle down and looked about the dark room for a moment. “Though I suppose I can’t care too much, this is only temporary,” he muttered. “Hm,” He shrugged a shoulder and went back to drinking 

Grimlock looked at his cup, then back to the seeker, then back to his cup, and on. “Do you do this every night?” the dinobot asked, watching as Starscream sucked down the contents of his second glass quicker than Grimlock could even take a sip. 

“Almost,” Starscream answered when the cup was empty. He grabbed the bottle and began pouring another. “I always try my hardest to get drunk,” he took a large gulp from his third glass. “It never does seem to work.”

Grimlocks optics brightened slightly as confusion set in. “You...can’t get over-charged?” he asked, never having heard of such a thing.

“Apparently not,” Starscream grumbled, then finishing off his third cup and pouring another. The rest of the contents drained from the bottle into the glass. He hummed before placing it carefully on the table. Grimlock could see the seeker was debating on whether or not he should get more. After a moment Starscream sat back, and began gradually sipping at his fourth drink. Apparently he opted to take what he had. For now anyways. 

After only a few more generous sips from his second glass Grimlock began to feel tipsy. It was strange, as the beast didn’t think he’d consumed nearly enough to become impaired. 

Apparently he was wrong. 

 

* * *

 

Dim optics slowly onlined. A low groan emitted itself from the dinobots throat. His processor took a moment to catch up to his body as it awoke. His frame felt heavy and his mind felt groggy. A fog fell over his memories as he fruitlessly tried to recall what had him feeling so horrible. 

Something tapped on his aching processor. He groaned again, forcing his optics to online completely. Above him he found a very vexed looking seeker holding out a blue cube of what Grimlock could only guess was energon. 

“Get up, you big dolt,” Starscream demanded, tapping the cube to Grimlock’s head again. The dinobot stirred, and forced himself to sit up. His hands sank into whatever he was laying on top of as he pushed himself off his front. Grimlock looked around for a moment. He realized that he was still in Starscream’s apartment, but-- 

He spotted the couch on the  _ other  _ side of the room. He looked down to see that he was on the berth. A jolt of panic shot through him as he looked up to Starscream for answers. 

The seeker rolled his eyes. “We didn’t do anything,” he clarified tesitly. “You collapsed here after you got drunk. Now here,” he shoved the blue cube in the larger mech’s face. “Drink this. It will make you feel better.”

Grimlock threw his legs over the bed before taking the drink. 

“Honestly, Dinobot, I’m surprised at you,” Starscream started as he strode away. “I didn’t expect you, of all people, to be a  _ lightweight.” _

That didn’t sound right. Grimlock was a large bot, bigger than the average big. Even without consuming alcohol in a common manner two drinks shouldn’t have had him so drunk so easily. He quickly finished off the blue cube before standing up on slightly wobbly legs and making his way to the table where the empty bottle of engex was still sitting. He found that it was the highest grade of engex available on Cybertron, higher than even a dino-bot could handle. 

“I’m not a lightweight,” he said when Starscream reentered the room. “You’re just crazy,” he declared, presenting the bottle to the other bot. 

“I assumed that you, of all bots, would be able to handle a grade as high as this,” the seeker huffed, swiping the bottle from Grimlock’s hand. “Apparently I was wrong,” he tossed the bottle over his shoulder and it landed on the bed. Starscream waved his hand in a circle. “Don't you have somewhere to be, Dinobot?” He asked, clearly still peeved that his guest had ended up sleeping over. 

Grimlock wanted to argue. He wanted to be angry that the red bot before him had managed to get him so drunk that his recollection of last night was lost in a fog. He wanted to be annoyed that Starscream blamed  _ him  _ even though it was not the dinobots fault. Not entirely anyways.  

But Grimlock felt none of those things. He didn't feel much of anything really. A bit annoyed, maybe, at both himself and Starscream. But other than that he couldn't say there were a great many feelings brewing about. 

“Did I do anything stupid?” He asked. 

“Yes,” Starscream answered simply. Grimlock waited for him to elaborate, but instead the seeker waved a dismissive hand. “Don't you have somewhere to be?” He asked again, getting more impatient the longer Grimlock stood there. 

“What did I do?” Grimlock asked, not done with the conversation.  

Starscream rolled his eyes. “Nothing worth noting,” he answered bluntly. 

“Starscream,” the dinobots voice was stern. He did not like having his own actions hid from him, and considering Starscream's body language whatever he did couldn't have been  _ good. “ _ Tell me what I did.” 

Starscream seemed to flinch back at the anger lacing the words. He scowled. “You told me I was beautiful. Then you tried to make me dance with you and collapsed onto my berth.” 

“That's it?” Grimlock felt embarrassed. 

“Unless you count my efforts to get you to move and your effortless ability  _ not to  _ than yes. That's it.” 

They stood in silence for a moment. Grimlock tried desperately to remember last night. The last thing he remembered was taking a second drink. After that there was nothing. He hoped, prayed to Primus, that he’d begin to remember as the day went on. Otherwise he'd have to settle with taking Starscream's word for it, and that generally proved to be a bad idea. 

“I'm sorry,” Grimlock apologized, leaping out of his thought. 

Starscream scoffed. “ _ Please.  _ I've dealt with worse Dinobot. This little incident is nothing I couldn't handle.” 

“That doesn't matter.” 

Starscream almost seemed surprised by this response. He shook away the surprise and replaced it with a level face. “Well, you didn't break anything, so I really can't be too angry with you.” He scowled. “I did have to sleep on the couch though,” he flapped his wings a bit and did a quick stretch. “Still sore,” he pointed a sharp finger at the larger bot. “I blame you for that.” 

Grimlock looked down at the fuming little bot. “Sorry,” he said bluntly before turning to take his leave. After checking his internal clock the dinobot realized he was going to be late for lab duty if he didn’t hurry. 

That was weird. 

“Lab duty”

Lab. 

Duty. 

Almost as weird as “Peacetime” or “relax.” they just didn’t quite roll off the glosia correctly, or make their way through the mind without being stopped for questions. 

Lab Duty. 

Still felt better than “peacetime” at any rate. Peacetime suggested a lack of activity, something the dinobot had come to despise, while Lab duty gave him just the smallest trickle of purpose in the otherwise relatively calm world.

Starscream walked with Grimlock to the lab. The seeker was still obviously fuming about last night, but he didn’t say anything else about it. 

They were both late by the time they arrived. Well, Grimlock was considered to be late. Starscream was a guest of sorts, and didn’t have anything to do, as far as Grimlock could tell, with Skyfire and Wheeljack’s project. He was off on his own working on the same machine he’d been working on since Grimlock had arrived.

“Oh good, you two are finally here,” Skyfire said as soon as they came through the door. “I’m giving a briefing on our field mission a few hours before the lab shuts down for the day. I need to assign you all to tents.” 

“How are you going to do that when Perceptor and Brainstorm aren’t here?” Starscream asked, though not really looking for an answer as he walked past the shuttle frame and to the bench he’d been working at. 

“They’ll go wherever I put them,” Skyfire answered absently, flipping through a datapad. “It’s you I’m worried about. You’re the most likely to argue.” 

Starscream emitted a sound that was similar to a growl, but continued to ignore the larger bot. 

Skyfire spared the seeker a glance before looking to Grimlock. “It’s really you I want to talk to, Grimlock. You’ve never been on a field mission of this nature before, I want to make sure we have all our bases covered.”

Grimlock responded with a stiff nod. He still was not keen on being told what to do so frequently, but the bot was steadily getting used to it. 

“Dinobot!” the unmistakable screech of the seeker pieced their audio receptors. “I am in need of your assistance.” 

Skyfire shot their lab guest a scowl. “Why don’t you try asking  _ nicely _ , Starscream,” he suggested, irritation tugging at his tone. 

Grimlock suppressed a chuckle. He walked past the irked shuttle frame and strode over to the seeker. A power core was immediately shoved into his chest with a brief. “Hold this.”  

Starscream fiddled with his device. He roughly pulled something out of the center of it. Apparently he didn’t need that. He took the power core back and requested Grimlock retrieve for him the container of silver liquid from the freezer. Grimlock did as he was told, curious as to what Starscream was working on. He’d been tearing apart and putting the same machine back together for weeks. He had, on more than one occasion, fiddled with a variety of chemicals and ended up causing more than one small explosion. He had gone through piles of data pads worth of equations and formulas. Skyfire had to practically haul him away from the table when the lab was shutting down for the day. 

Whatever the seeker was working on it seemed important to him. 

Grimlock could see it by the way Starscream hovered over his work. The look in his eye when he was concentrating. There were thoughts in his mind. There was a  _ need.  _ A look that suggested failure was not an option.  

Starscream carefully took the small container of silver liquid from the assistant. He handed Grimlock a datapad. “Make sure to record what you see,” he muttered, eyes glued to the machine. He inserted the power core and let the machine hum to life as it usually did. A few seconds later it fizzled out. As it usually did. 

Starscream didn’t swear this time. Instead he removed the power core and placed it beside his container of liquid. He put on his goggles before handing a pair to Grimlock. “This might explode,” the seeker warmed. “But it shouldn’t this time.”

He picked up his silver stew and carefully poured the substance over the inside of the machine. 

He waited. 

Patiently. To Grimlock’s surprise. 

The seeker watched quietly, but anxiously, as the substance he’d stirred up began to take effect. Starscream bit his lip as the silver liquid integrated with the metal and began to fill in the wounds. “Come on,” the seeker muttered under his vent.

Grimlock also watched with interest. He’d never seen anything like it before, a metal regenerating substance. The implications of such a thing were endless. 

So what business did Starscream have developing it?

Eventually the machine was fully prepared. It looked fairly solid, every injury that had been inflicted was fixed. It almost looked good as new. 

As soon as the substance settled Starscream grabbed the power core and carefully inserted it into the engine. 

It hummed to life for longer than a minute. Starscream’s face was ripe with hope but still laced with inevitable concern as he watched his machine work. 

Two minutes passed.

Then three.

And five, to seven.

Ten Kliks and the machine didn’t fail. 

Starscream let out an audible vent. His stiff frame eased back into the seat. 

“It’s working,” he practically whispered. 

Grimlock looked between the device and it’s stunned creator. “What-- is it?” he inquired carefully. 

“Nothing,” Starscream answered quickly, but it wasn’t a snap. “Nothing yet. I have to leave this running all night. All year. In order to prove it’s worth.” he heaved an airy vent. “Primus I hope it works,” he whispered through the vent. 

Grimlock wanted to press but he decided against it. He would probably end up asking Skyfire about it after the briefing.

“You can go off and help someone else now,” Starscream said, calmer than usual. His eyes never left the machine. “I’m no longer in need of your assistance. Have you been recording the time?” 

“Yes,” Grimlock answered simply. “Twelve kliks and counting.”

Starscream hummed. He waved a hand. “Go on, I’m sure Wheeljack could use your help, or-- Skyfire. No need to hover.”

Grimlock was almost surprised by how civil the words were. Starscream could be quite snippy. His default tone was sass, and his voice had a natural snap to it. Grimlock was experiencing none of those things in that instance. Whatever Starscream was working on it must have been very important to him.  

Funny. Grimlock didn’t think the seeker  _ had  _ things that were ‘important to him.’

Silently the dinobot abandoned the flyer. He retreated to Skyfire who was looking at something through a telescope. 

“Starscream’s finished, is he,” Skyfire stated, then briefly looking away from the microscope to write something down. “I’m going to need an inventory of the lab,” he stated, looking back to his specimen. “If you could get that done it would save me a great deal of time. Just take an empty datapad from off the shelf,” Skyfire waved a vague hand in the direction of a shelf Grimlock was already aware existed.  

The dinobot didn’t say anything. He hovered for a moment before turning and getting to work.

As he walked about Grimlock could not help but think about how strange it was. He’d traded his life as a fierce warrior slaying enemies on the battlefield, for simple work as a measly lab assistant. It felt wrong, almost, but in some ways better than sitting in his apartment doing nothing with his brothers. 

Grimlock perked with a realization. 

‘ _ My brothers!’  _ he thought, suddenly remembering he’d never checked in with them. “Frag” he swore quietly, opening his comm-link and finding a great deal of messages. They were from a variety of sources, with most of them being left by Swoop. He was a worrier. Grimlock quickly comm’d all of his siblings. 

“It’ about time!” Slag’s voice boomed into his audio receptor. “Where have you, Grimlock, been!”

“Me Grimlock got--” shitface drunk at Starscream’s place. But he couldn't say that. “Caught up-- at the lab.” he lied. He would have told them that he went out for drinks and got drunk at the bar, but then they would have been on him for not inviting them to come with him. 

“All night!?” Slag raged.

“Yes all night!” Grimlock argued, then quickly taking a look about the lab to see if anyone was looking at him. No one was. He lowered his voice, going back to the comm. “Just tell everyone me, Grimlock, okay. I be back later today. No need to worry.”

Slag emitted something similar to a growl. “You, Grimlock, stupid in lab...but okay. Me Slag tell everyone.” 

Grimlock smiled internally. “Good,” he said happily. “I see you later,” then he hung up before anyone could say more. He took another second to look around the lab, see what everyone was doing. Skyfire had abandoned his microscope to replace the specimen. Wheeljack was still fiddling with the large piece of machinery Grimlock had helped him move into the larger lab only a few days before, and Starscream was still staring at his...whatever it was . 

Grimlock went back to work. He didn’t know what most of what he was looking at was. He was sure, however, that a brief description of the object would be enough for the sci-guys to deduce what he was talking about. They were supposed to be smart, right? 

Right. 

An hour in Grimlock was called for the briefing. He noticed that Starscream had to practically be dragged away from his observing by Skyfire. It was funny to watch, the smaller bot trying to swat the shuttle frame away.  

The briefing wasn’t too long. It went over where they would be going, what they would be doing, how long they’d be there, what they’d be bringing with them. The basics. Some warnings on what they had to look out for. Skyfire and Starscream and Brainstorm would fly up ahead and set up camp with all the supplies. Perceptor would accompany them while Grimlock and Wheeljack would be flown up via Sky lynx with some of the heavier machinery they’d be bringing along. 

When all was said and done Skyfire got to assigning partners. Who everyone would be working with, and who they’d be tenting with. “The usual,” he began. “Me and Brianstorm. Wheeljack and Perceptor,” he looked to Starscream. “Starscream you’re with Grimlock.”

Starscream practically flew forward. “What!?” he screeched, not nearly as loud as he was capable. 

“What?” Skyfire questioned. “Would you rather Grimlock sleep outside? You’re bunking with him, no exceptions. He’s your--” Skyfire took a moment to search for the right word. “Buddy,” he decided. “For this trip.”

Starscream fell back with a huff, a scowl setting itself deep on his face. “What is he to do? Keep  _ track  _ of me?” he snapped, sitting forward again. “I don’t mind sleeping with the broot, but I don’t need a primus damn sparkling sitter.”

“Well, if our last field mission is anything to go by, then  _ yes  _ you do.”

Starscream merely growled, falling back once again. “You cause one avalanche,” he grumbled to himself, crossing his arms and pulling drawing in slightly, something similar to a pout crossing his face. 

Skyfire simply rolled his eyes. He ended the presentation by telling everyone that Brainstorm and Perceptor would be arriving sometime the next day. Until then the lab was shutting down for the night. Starscream was outraged that they were ending the day so early. Skyfire apparently did not have the patience for his back talk today, as he managed to shut down the seekers protests almost immediately. 

Grimlock watched as Starscream stomped towards his project. 

“You should try to keep him busy,” Skyfire suggested quietly from beside him. Grimlock looked to the shuttle. “He’s required to return to his quarters before a certain time. He usually spends the time beforehand here,” Skyfire finally looked to the dinobot. “I know, for the moment, you’re not his keeper or anything, and outside this lab you are under no obligation to do as I say but keeping track of him  _ is  _ what you’ll be doing. I suggest you get used to it.”

Grimlock narrowed his optics. “He has a  _ curfew,”  _ he spat. “Why?”

Skyfire’s face remained stoic.“They tell us it’s peace time. No one ever said anything about fairness.” 

“Is this why you wanted a lab assistant?” Grimlock inquired, his voice going low as a small bit of rage began to build in his system. 

“Partially yes,” Skyfire answered honestly. “The truth is Starscream needs a partner. Of any calibre. He does his projects on the autobot side of things a bit too often for anyone to be comfortable with. Peacetime only means we’re not shooting at each other. It doesn’t say anything about  _ trusting  _ each other.” 

Grimlock turned his gaze back to Starscream, who had yet to move his device. Instead he was resting a light hand atop it, a look of worry crossing his features while his eyes remained bright with hope. 

“What is that he’s working on?” Grimlock queried, leaning in just slightly so he didn’t have to speak too loudly. 

“He’s attempting to create a substance to help heal wings,” Skyfire answered. “They’re the only thing that don’t grow back during the regeneration process.” 

Grimlock stood up straight. That made sense. 

Skyfire continued. “Rumor has it one of his trine got their wing ripped off in an accident. Starscream’s been here ever since, looking for a “cure” as he calls it. Everyone on the Decepticon side told him it was impossible.  _ Ratchet  _ told him it was impossible. Along with every other medic and scientist on the planet.”

Grimlock hummed quietly in thought. “Why wings-- not grow back?”

Skyfire shrugged. “We’re not entirely sure. We assume it has something to do with their unique wiring. Wings are one of the most individualized things any bot can possess. They can be fixed, sure, like anything else, but to be entirely  _ replaced  _ is a different story entirely. The complexities of seeker anatomy make it difficult to properly reconnect, or even construct, an artificial wing.”

“Even on a knock off?” Grimlock asked absently, barely realizing he’d used the insulting term. 

“It’s easier,” Skyfire said cooly. “But that’s not helping the forged bots.”

Grimlock hummed in understanding. Skyfire gave the dino a stiff pat on the shoulder. “Good luck buddy,” he wished before taking his leave. Grimlock remained still for a moment, just staring at the seeker across the room. After a few brief moments he began to move. The large bot strode smoothly across the lab until he came to stand beside Starscream. 

Grimlock waited a moment before speaking. “We need to go,” he said, letting a sternness slip into his tone. 

Starscream shot the bot a hard glare. He snarled. “I know that, Dinobot, I don’t need you to tell me.”

“Do you need any--” 

“No,” Starscream snapped, dragging his machine off the table. “Why don’t you go bother someone else,” he suggested, lugging his machine to the shelf a few paces away.

“Where are you going after this?” Grimlock inquired, heeding Skyfire’s advice.

“What do you care?” the seeker snapped, dropping the still humming motor onto its designated shelf. “I know Skyfire suggested you ‘Keep track of me’ dinobot, but you know you don’t have to do what he says.”

“I know,” Grimlock answered with a shrug. “Maybe me...want to spend time with you.”

Starscream smirked, approaching the bot. “Well now I know you’re lying,” he leaned up slightly and poked the dinobot in the chest. “ _ nobody _ wants to just ‘spend time with me.’ You just like staring at me,” the smaller bot leaned away. “Which I ask you stop doing, by the way, your gawking is beginning to get on my nerves,” Starscream began to stride away, taking large angry paces towards the door. 

Grimlock followed, as he did everyday. 

The walk was silent, as it usually was. Starscream was retiring to his room, though, by the look on his face, Grimlock could tell he didn’t want to. 

They stopped before the door. 

“You have a curfew,” Grimlock stated. He was met with sarcasm.

“Thank you, Dinobot, for telling me something I am acutely aware of,” Starscream mumbled, typing in his key. “Don’t you have anything  _ better _ to do today than bother me?”

Grimlock cocked his head. “Why are you, Starscream, always so bitter?”

“Because everyone around me is an  _ idiot, _ ” he spat, angrily typing in the key again. 

“Then why not go back to the Decepticons?”

With a stiff growl Starscream delivered a punch to the keypad after failing for a third time. The metal fell away from the wall. “Because everyone over there is even  _ more _ of an idiot,” the door opened and the seeker slipped in.  

Grimlock gave chase. Starscream turned sharply to the bot invading his apartment. “What do you  _ want?”  _ he spat. “Trying to  _ practice  _ for having to keep track of me, Dinobot?” 

Grimlock stood before the door for a moment, looking for the right thing to say. He did enjoy staring at Starscream, and he did want to, as one said, “practice” keeping track of the slippery seeker. But that wasn’t why Grimlock stuck around. 

A bot who desperately tried to get drunk every night. His trine-mate grounded. His entire existence bound by a curfew while he stayed on the Autobot side. The constant bitterness, the fatigue that hung off his frame, the dull optics that brightened with hope and shone with fury when he worked on his “cure.” 

Grimlock was looking at someone who just seemed-- very...lonely. 

“You seem-- lonely,” the dinobot said carefully. He knew Starscream would only deny it. 

“Pah!” Starscream huffed, waving a dismissive hand and turning away. “You think I’m not used to being  _ alone,  _ dinobot?” 

“Being used to something is not the same as enjoying it,” Grimlock countered smoothly. 

Another dismissive wave. “Just get out,” Starscream demanded. “I don’t need your pity.” he growled, heading into the berth room. “Haven’t you caused me enough trouble?” 

Grimlock narrowed his eyes. “You can blame yourself for last night.”

“Well I’m  _ blaming you _ ,” Starscream snapped, pointing a sharp finger at the bot. He quickly turned back to the berth, but didn’t move. 

He stared at the large empty berth pad. It was still out of sorts since Grimlock had slept on it last night. The seeker’s face tightened at the thought of laying alone. Again. Like he had been for the past year or so. At home Starscream shared an apartment with his trine-mates. They didn’t always get along, but...it was better than nothing. 

Better than this. 

He clenched his fists for a moment before letting them go. 

“You can stay,” he said quietly, turning his head up slightly. “If you want,” he turned to face the bigger bot who was still stationed at the door. “Or-- we could go do something,” he proposed somewhat sheepishly. He tried to save himself with a sneer. “Since it seems you’re so determined.” 

Grimlock perked. “I would like that,” he said calmly, the general roughness of his tone falling away for a brief second. 

“Well, then--” Starscream didn’t seem to know what to say, as if he wasn’t expecting Grimlock to actually  _ agree  _ to that. Especially not so calmly. “Let’s get going then,” his voice squeaked as he marched past the Dinobot and into the hall. “I’ve only got six hours, big guy, I don’t need you wasting my time.”

Grimlock smiled internally before following the seeker out. 

  
Six hours with Starscream was bound to be interesting. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is...not very good, honestly. And I can't figure out how to make it good. 
> 
> I can't-- continuity. Or In character. 
> 
> Also at the end Grimlock says something about being "open" and I created a dumb headcanon for this story in which there is a time every once in a while where a bots gestation chamber is open, and those are the only times in which a bot can receive a protoform. (*cough*get pregnant*cough*) 
> 
> So yeah.........
> 
> Okay, enjoy I hope.

Grimlock had to put a great deal of effort into convincing Starscream that they should stop at the Dinobot apartment before they really went out and did anything. Grimlock hadn’t seen his brothers in almost two days, and they were already unhappy with him. No need to add fuel to the fire by spending a day with the seeker and neglecting his own kin. 

Starscream huffed and argued at the proposal but eventually gave in and followed the Dinobot to his big apartment in the sky. Starscream walked the streets of Iacon beside his much larger companion. “Why do you walk everywhere?” he asked, nearly growling at just how  _ slow  _ this method was. 

“Me Grimlock don’t have any other options. If want, you Starscream can fly ahead,” he pointed to the tall silver building in the distance. “I live there,” he stated, hoping the irate seeker would take off so, not only would he stop his complaining, but Grimlock would get the pleasure of seeing the seeker fly. He wanted to see those elegant wings at work. 

Starscream looked around for a brief moment before turning his gaze to the sky. “I would like nothing more,” he mumbled then looking up to the dinobot. “But I’m afraid recreational flying is highly frowned upon in Autobot airspace.”

Grimlock’s eyes frowned. “You-- can’t use your alt mode?” he inquired somewhat puzzled. “I thought--”

“You thought wrong,” Starscream snapped before the large bot could even begin. “Rules are different for Decepticons in Autobot cities, just as they are different for Autobots in Decepticon cities,” he stated, as if reciting something that had been implanted in his mind. 

Grimlock narrowed his optics, looking down at the smaller bot. “No rule in Decepticon city ban alt-modes.”

Starscream shrugged a shoulder. “Peacetime, big guy, doesn’t always translate to treating each other with acute  _ fairness _ . I’ve put in my fair share of complains on the subject, but I have been repeatedly ignored. No surprise there,” he let out something of theatrical sigh. “Though I suppose it is to be expected. Even after ten thousand years some things never change. Optimus is likely not giving in to my relatively trivial request because Soundwave isn’t giving in to his. Petty, all of it, and conduct I’d expect from a sparkling, but reality nonetheless.” 

Grimlock was genuinely surprised by the seekers nonchalant tone on the matter. Starscream spoke as though he cared, but the way he shaped the words indicated it was an argument that had long weighed on his processor. There was no snap or screech, it was a simple, tired, series of statements. Such a tone did not fit Starscream. 

Grimlock turned his head forward, electing not to comment. 

It didn’t take long to reach the tower. Or at least it didn’t  _ feel  _ like it took long to Grimlock. Starscream, on the other hand, felt like it had taken an eternity. He was sure to voice that as they entered the building and made their way to the elevator. 

“Is it possible for you to not complain or is that your default setting?” Grimlock asked casually, pressing the button on the elevator. 

Starscream sneered. “You think you’re so funny,” he mumbled. “Please, remind me again who got blackout drunk in my apartment.”

“Remind me again who gave me high-grade that was well above standard,” Grimlock shot right back. 

“Remind me again who took a second glass,”

“I can keep going.”

“Can you?”

Grimlock’s gaze shot to the now smirking seeker, side eyeing him from across the elevator.

Grimlock matched the red bot’s stance, staring forward and crossing his arms. “Remind me again who held the bottle.”

“Remind me again who accepted.”

“Remind me who offered.” 

“Remind me again who entered the apartment in the first place.” 

“Remind me again who  _ wanted  _ me there.”

The elevator door opened. Starscream stepped out first with Grimlock right on his heel. “Remind me again who was curious.”

“Remind me again which of us is a shameless flirt.”

Starscream scowled at the implication, letting out a low growl. “Remind me again who thinks that flirt is  _ beautiful,”  _

“Remind me again who  _ is  _ beautiful,” 

Starscream’s stride screeched to a halt. He turned sharply to the large dinobot. A combination of surprise and something similar to fear rested on his face. 

Grimlock stood stiff, eyes wide at the realization of what he’d just said. 

A moment later Starscream sneered. “Don’t be stupid,” he spat, turning on a heel and stomping a few paces until he realized he didn’t know where he was going and taking pause again. “Well, come on!” he called back. 

It took another few seconds for Grimlock to find himself and catch up with the seeker. 

They walked for a bit on silence before Grimlock opted to speak. “So I guess that means I won, doesn’t it?”

Starscream shot him a glare but didn’t say anything. His face twisted in a close mouthed sneer as he turned his head forward. “You just wait,” he grumbled, barely catching Grimlock’s audio receptor. 

Grimlock was thankful when they finally reached his door. He tapped in half the code before pausing and looking to Starscream. “Do you want to come in?” he offered. 

“I’ll stay out here,” the seeker replied immediately. “I’d rather not be sneered at, thank you.”

The dinobot shrugged, then pressed in the rest of the key. As soon as the door slid open he was greeted by the excited cry of Swoop who very loudly informed all of the residing brothers that Grimlock was home. 

“It’s about time,” Snarl called, ignoring his brother for a piled of scrap on the floor. They were doing their monthly cleaning apparently. 

Slag shoved a broom in the dinobot leaders hands. “We cleaning,” he said. “You help.”

“Me Grimlock can’t. Have prior engagement,” he surveyed the room for a moment. “Where Sludge?” he asked, taking a few more steps into the apartment. 

“Sludge visiting Ratchet,” Swoop answered, taking the broom from Grimlock. “What you Grimlock doing?”

“Me Grimlock going--” he wasn’t quite sure what to call it. “Out,” he landed on. It turned out to be a mistake. Swoop raised a brow, leaning up and looking closely at his brother. “Who you Grimlock go out with?” he inquired. It drew the attention of the other dinobots. “You Grimlock going out?” Slag asked, stepping away from his spot at the window. 

Even Snarl stood and granted his attention to the point of inquiry. “You Grimlock never go out,” he accused, stepping towards the horde. 

Swoop put on a sly smile. “You Grimlock going on...A  _ date?”  _ he asked teasingly. 

“ _ No,”  _ Grimlock denied immediately. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then Who are you going out with!?” Snarl demanded. 

“No one!”

The dinobots leaned back a bit. 

“No one?” Snarl repeated. 

“That’s sad,” Swoop commented. He leaned forward again. “You Grimlock okay?”

“Where you going?” Snarl pressed. “We could come.”

“No,” Grimlock declined too quickly. The dinobots seemed surprised by their leaders response. 

A stiff ‘ha’ came from the door, drawing everyone’s attention. They found Starscream leaning on the doorframe, an all too entertained smirk sitting on his face. 

Everyone looked back to Grimlock. “Is  _ that  _ who you’re taking out?” Snarl asked, pointing to the jet in the doorway. 

Swoop let out a happy keen. “I  _ knew  _ there was someone at the lab you weren’t telling us about!” 

Snarl followed his name sake. “It’s Starscream,” he pointed out. “Nothing to get excited about.” 

Swoop continued to smirk, pointing a finger at the much larger, now slightly embarrassed, dinobot leader. “You Grimlock think Starscream pretty,” he accused. 

“He’s pretty, that doesn’t mean I have to like him,” Grimlock mumbled. 

Swoop chuckled. He waved a hand. “You Grimlock go,” he insisted. “Starscream waiting for you. We can clean.”

Snarl sneered, turning away from their leader and heading back to what he was doing. “Just don’t let him tear your throat out.”

Slag perked to attention. “Oh yeah. Don’t let him do that,” he shot a glance to the impatiently waiting seeker before looking back to Grimlock. “He has claws,” he whispered, leaning in slightly. Grimlock just gave his brother a pat on the shoulder. 

“Have fun,” Swoop wished in an uncomfortably suggestive tone as their leader turned to leave. Grimlock growled but kept walking. He walked past Starscream, expecting the smaller bot to follow him. Starscream lingered in the doorway for a few seconds, studying the remaining Dinobots before turning on a heel and going to catch up with Grimlock. 

“They seem pleasant,” Starscream commented as Grimlock pressed angrily at the button for the elevator. “Pressing it more than once isn’t going to help your cause,” Starscream pointed out. Grimlock growled, but stopped pressing. “What are you so angry about, anyways? It’s not as though it was that bad. I can’t even imagine the crude jokes that would arise if I brought a Dinobot back to our apartment.” 

There was a thick moment of silence before the elevator dinged, announcing it’s arrival. The doors parted and they stepped in. Neither spoke for a majority of the journey. The soft hum of the elevator filled in the silence.  

“Why are you here?” 

It was Grimlock who broke the silence. His voice was softer than even he thought capable. 

“What do you mean?” asked Starscream, having a good guess. 

“Over here, on the Autobot side. They bind your wings and give you a curfew. You have no friends, no allies...No trine mates. You’re the second in command to Soundwave. I would like to think that gives you some political responsibility.”

“It does, but it’s not anything I can’t do over here.” 

“But why  _ are  _ you over here?” 

“Your scientists aren’t as annoying and your facilities are marginally better.” The answer sounded rehearsed. It was genuine, but there were holes in it.

“Are there any  _ other _ reasons?” Grimlock pressed. 

Starscream scoffed. “Other than the order telling me to play nice with the Autobots,  _ no,”  _ The elevator stopped. As soon as the door split open the seeker was out, taking long strides in an attempt to get away. “There are no other reasons.”

“Those don’t seem like very solid reasons,” Grimlock continued, taking the same pace as the smaller bot. 

Starscream turned sharply to the bot on his heel. He took a couple seconds to think, as whatever he was going to say he decided not to. His stance eased and he cocked a hip, placing a hand upon it. “I thought this was a date, not an interrogation,” he smirked, knowing it would press the Dinobot’s buttons.

Grimlock growled. ”Not a date,” he insisted. 

Starscream was satisfied with his success. “Sure it isn’t, big guy,” he turned, waving a hand as he continued towards the door. “You just keep telling yourself that.” 

Grimlock followed with a huff. “This is not a date,” he insisted. 

“Oh yeah? Where are we going then?”

Grimlock had planned on just taking  Starscream around the city. Maybe to a shop or two, the bar, they could--

Frag. 

“No where.” Grimlock muttered

“I want to go to that candy shop,” Starscream said, “Since you don’t seem to have any other plans. I’ve been wanting to go, but--” his confidence faltered. “I’ve...Never found the time.” 

It was a lie with truth laced into it. Starscream didn’t have the time because he worked in the lab all day, and he worked in a lab all day because he was afraid to go out. He would never call it afraid, but that’s what it was. Fear. Grimlock could see it. He didn’t like the sneers and stares, he didn’t like being grounded. It must’ve been torture for the winged bot. 

Grimlock matched Starscream’s pace as they made their way out into the street. “We can go there,” he said softly. “But after that I have somewhere to take you.”

Starscream looked up at the bot, brow raised. “Oh yeah?” he questioned, curious but skeptical. “Where are we going?”

Grimlock smirked to himself. “It surprise,” 

Starscream seemed surprised by this. He covered his expression with a smirk a second later. “Well alright then.” 

Grimlock took Starscream to the sweets shop. It was odd, to say the least, and seemed more like a place sparklings would be excited to visit. Apparently the seeker had a sweet tooth, however, and plucked box after box off the shelf until he could hold no more. 

“Feeding a village?” Grimlock inquired, looking at the endless goodies in Starscream’s arms. 

The seeker smirked. “Even I’m allowed to have a soft side,” he admitted. “And like I said, I never make it out. I’m hunkering down for a storm,” he joked. Grimlock looked down at his companion for a moment before scooped the contents from his arms. “Get more,” Grimlock instructed. “My treat.”

The seeker seemed to be at a loss. He looked at the Dinobot for a long minute, the thoughts racing through his mind making themselves clear on his face. It was the same face he made when he was working something out, doing a calculation. A calculation that made no sense. 

“I’ll--” he tried not to hesitate, but failed. “Get some more. I guess.” 

Starscream was not one to miss an opportunity. He retrieved multiple of almost everything in the store. He was impressed with himself, and surprised that Grimlock managed to have the money to pay for it all.

“Me Grimlock have much from jobs when I was useful,” he shrugged. “Energon free. Don’t have much to spend it on.”

“So you’re spending it on me,” Starscream stated, leaning on the counter. “How sickeningly sweet.”

“How appropriate for the occasion.” 

Starscream hummed, unable to make the smile disappeared from his face. “You should save your money. Give it to your sparklings.”

Grimlock barked a soft laugh. “Me Grimlock not have sparklings,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m no sire.” 

“Maybe not yet. But who knows, someday, in a million years perhaps, you’ll find a bot who catches your fancy just enough for you to start handing out sparklings. Maybe we’ll be at peace enough for you to do it with a clear conscious.”

“Me Grimlock don’t like sparklings,”

“You heartless monster,” Starscream joked. 

Grimlock shrugged a shoulder. “They’re annoying.”

“Well sure, but so is everyone. The only difference is that they drool. More often.” He pushed off the counter. “I suppose we’ll have to return this to my apartment before we head off to your top secret location.” 

“Unless they deliver,” Grimlock turned the enquiry to the mech checking them out. He informed the intimidating dinobot that it was possible, and asked if that was what he’d like to do with his purchase. 

As everything was being set up and paid for Starscream stared at his companion with wary eyes. He was trying to figure, with all his might, what Grimlock’s endgame was. Why was he being so generous? No one wa ever this nice to  _ Starscream  _ of all bots, seeing as how Starscream was never really nice to anyone. It made sense. It kept things balanced in Starscream’s world. To have someone be so sickeningly kind to him felt...weird, and frankly somewhat uncomfortable, considering, in his experience, the nicer someone is the more maniacal they turn out to be when their goal comes to fruition. 

Starscream decided he needed to be careful with this one. 

He was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t even realize they were leaving until Grimlock waved a hand in front of his face and told him they were holding up the line. 

Starscream perked to attention. “What?” he looked behind him where a fairly significant line of mechs had formed. “Right. We’re-- let’s just go,” Starscream was quick to march through the crowd that parted at his menacing presence. Grimlock wasn’t far behind.

“Now what?” Starscream inquired once they were out in the street. 

“Now you follow me,” Grimlock informed, walking past Starscream. 

Starscream followed without question, though remained wary, and kept himself ready in case the dinobot turned on him. He was confused and concerned when he was lead to a transport out of the city. Everyone was staring at them, more so than usual. Though Starscream was hesitant he did follow the dinobot into the train and let the doors close behind him, all the while keeping a careful optic on Grimlock. 

“Where are we going?” he asked halfway through the journey. 

“You’ll see,” was the only answer he got, to which he huffed at but didn’t press. 

They reached their stop soon enough and Starscream found himself being helped off the transport by a large dinobot hand, which he quickly pulled away from with a scowl. They stepped into what appeared to be an abandoned station, only a few bots exiting with them. 

“Where are we?” 

Grimlock ignored the question and simply gestured for Starscream to follow him. Again Starscream hesitated. None of this was good. A large, franky very intimidating dinobot, dragging him to the middle of nowhere couldn’t spell anything good. 

And yet, Starscream followed. 

He allowed himself to be walked out of the station, past the ruins of the small settlement that once rested in this area, and to the cliffside of a massive canyon. The walk took an agonizing twenty kliks, when it was over Starscream checked his internal clock. This journey had taken up more of his precious freedom than he was comfortable with. He scowled. “What are we doing here Dinobot?” he spat. Grimlock stood at the edge of the cliff, staring off into the canyon. “I wanted to go flying.” he answered eventually, never taking his optics of the scenic view. 

All of Starscream’s anger was suddenly replaced with confusion. “You-- but you don’t even fly.”

“Maybe,” Grimlock shrugged. “But I know someone who does.”

Starscream stood stunned for a moment before narrowing his eyes. “What’s your angle, Dinobot?” he asked, suspicion creeping into his tone. “Nobody is this nice, to _ me _ of all people, just out of the  _ kindness _ of their  _ spark _ .” he pointed to the bot. “What are you playing at?”

Grimlock stood like a rock, his gaze never falling away from the sky. He watched as the sun began to fall, arms crossed over his chest, optics dim with easement. “I don’t have an angle,” he answered after a moment. “I just feel like being nice to you.”

Starscream spit out a loud. “Ha!” flicking a dismissive hand at the Autobot. “I seriously doubt that,” he practically growled. 

Grimlock shrugged. “Okay,” he said simply. “Believe what you want.” 

Starscream’s scowl fell to confusion one more. He took a step closer. “Aren’t you-- going to try and convince me otherwise?”

Another shrug. “No.”

“Bu--” Starscream seemed to be at a loss. “Why?”

“Because I know I’ll never convince you otherwise. You, Starscream careful. Me Grimlock understand,” he lowered his voice slightly. “Wounds run deep. Dinobots been hurt before too.” 

Starscream felt flustered. He didn’t like the feeling. “You-- So you don’t want anything else?” 

Another shrug. “Nothing you won’t give me.”

“You can’t be serious.” 

Grimlock sighed. “Are you going to fly or have I just wasted our time? Which we’re running out of by the way.” 

Starscream stiffened. Then eased. “Flying,” he repeated. “Right,” he clenched his fists. It had been  _ so long _ since he went out for a fly. Since he was  _ allowed _ to fly. His frame ached for it, his wings fluttered at the thought. 

He approached the cliffside. One glance into the abyss told him that Grimlock couldn’t have chosen a more perfect spot. He turned fully to the Dinobot. “Do you have an end goal?” he asked sternly, wanting answers before he could accept what was offered to him. 

“None that I know of,” was the immediate reply.

Starscream smirked. “You’re strange dinobot,” then he began to lean. Seconds later found him jumping off the cliffside. 

Grimlock couldn’t help but flinch, despite knowing Starscream’s wings could catch him. 

Soon after the fall Starscream shot into the sky. He flipped and twisted about the clouds with expert precision. He fell and caught himself. He barrel rolled, and loop de looped, and did tricks that Grimlock wasn’t even sure were physically possible. 

The roar of jet engines echoed throughout the sky. 

Grimlock smirked to himself. He’d gotten his wish, and Starscream had gotten his. He hoped the flyer was as content with the outcome as he was. Grimlock was willing to stay out there all night if it meant seeing Starscream fly. If it meant seeing Starscream actually enjoy something for once, instead of being hunched over and frustrated in the constraining atmosphere of the research center in which he resided. 

In which he was trapped. 

Grimlock felt bad for the bot, despite the overwhelming nagging in his processor that told him not to. People didn’t feel bad for Starscream. He wasn’t a good bot deserving of anyone’s compassion, according to most who knew him. 

And yet, Grimlock couldn’t help but at least pity the poor flyer. The flyer trying to do something good for once, whether it be self serving or not. The “bad bot” who had been beaten down and bound for his entire existence. 

Much like the dinobots…

The only difference was that the dinobots fought for the “good guys,” or so they called themselves. The only real evil in the Decepticons was Megatron, who’d managed to corrupt himself enough to lose a battle with his own ideals, and in the process drag all of his followers down with him. Grimlock wasn’t sure how “good” or “bad” of a bot Starscream was _ before  _ Megatron, but he was sure everyone under the tyrant's hand was a whole hell of a lot worse _ after _ him. 

War is war, and whether everyone did something morally ambiguous or not everyone still tried to place labels on things where they simply didn’t belong. Labels like good or bad, which simply ddin’t apply to everyone. 

Even after ten thousand years the Autobots were still trying to stand atop a crumbling pedestal of righteousness, while the Decepticons held steady, waiting to meet them on the ground where they  _ all _ belonged. Grimlock would never call himself, or anyone else “innocent,” he would merely call himself and everyone else Soldiers. 

Some better than others, most worse than they thought. 

Grimlock was pulled from his thoughts by Starscream who came to land gracefully in front of him. By that time the sun had set entirely and the stars were just beginning to rear their heads

“Did you enjoy yourself?” Grimlock inquired, visor brightening at the sight of a smile on Starscream’s face. A genuine smile, not a smirk, or the remnants of a cynical laugh, but a smile, one that answered Grimlock’s question. 

“Very,” Starscream vented. “I should do this more often.”

“You should,”

They began their walk back to the transport station. Grimlock was surprised to find that Starscream remained walking beside him instead of flying ahead. He decided to propose the idea. “You can fly ahead,” he started. “You’d get there much faster.”

Starscream waved him off. “I know that,” he grumbled. “I just--  _ feel  _ like walking beside you. Is that so strange?”

“Yes absolutely.” 

Starscream scoffed. “Clueless Dinobot,” he muttered, just barely loud enough for Grimlock to hear. 

Grimlock ignored it. They opted to walk the rest of the way in silence. 

The ride back into the city was silent. 

The walk back to Starscream’s apartment was silent. 

Grimlock anticipated silence at his parting, but instead he got something that was...unexpected, to say the least. 

“Thank you,” Starscream said, opening his door. “That was...nice. I probably wouldn’t have gone out and done it myself.” 

After Grimlock’s shock subsided he replied. “You’re welcome. We should do it again,” that last part was an accident, one that heeded positive results. 

“We should.” was the quick reply. 

They stood there for a moment, just staring at eachother. Both seemed to want to say something, but neither could force the words from their vocalizer"

“Would you...like to come in for a night cap?” Starscream offered hesitantly after the lingering silence. 

“I probably shouldn’t.”

“I can promise to use lower high grade.”

Grimlock took the offer into consideration. 

He really didn’t want to leave. 

But he really  _ should.  _

“Okay.”

Grimlock followed Starscream into the apartment. He seated himself on the couch and waited for Starscream to return with two glasses and a bottle. Grimlock checked the grad before allowing Starscream to pour him a glass. 

“I still blame you for what happened last night,” Starscream stated, pouring the alcohol. “Honestly, Dinobot, learn to hold your liquor.” 

“Hold my what?”

Starscream rolled his eyes, handing Grimlock the glass. “It’s an earth term. Their version of high grade.” 

Grimlock swooshed the contents of his cup around before taking a sip. 

Starscream watched him curiously. “Do you have a mouth?” he inquired after Grimlock came down from his drink. 

Grimlock cocked a brow at the random question. “No,” he answered bluntly. “Just an intake hatch.”

Starscream made a face. “I will never understand you bots who refuse to get yourselves  _ real  _ intakes,” he said before taking a sip of his own drink. 

Grimlock ‘humphed.’ “And I’ll never understand those who do.”

“Face plates are just in the way.”

“You, Starscream, are just too influenced by humans.” 

Starscream grimaced. “ _ Please _ . Don’t try to compare me to those squishy little organics.” 

Grimlock smiled to himself, his visor brightening to indicate the satisfaction. 

Starscream paused before he took a sip. “Don’t look so pleased with yourself,” he snapped, putting his drink on the table. He scooted a bit closer. A bit  _ too _ close. 

“Having a proper intake. Having a  _ mouth,  _ is more useful to me than any old mouthplate. Where’s the fun in that?”

Grimlock turned to the smaller bot and found that they were mere inches apart. “Fun?” he questioned, trying to stop himself from heating up at the sight of those bright red optics and loose lip plates so close to his mask. 

Starscream smriked. “Very,” he purred, then grabbing the back of Grimlock’s head and pulling him closer to close the distance between them. Grimlock dropped his drink, hands going immediately to the smaller bot’s waist as Starscream climbed over his lap, pecking small kisses all over Grimlock’s face plate. 

“I can’t properly kiss you without a mouth.”

“Cybertronians don’t kiss,” Grimlock vented. 

Starscream smirked, grabbing the side of his partner’s head. “They do now,” he planted a light peck in the center of Grimlock’s face, where his nose would be if he had one. Grimlock’s hands shifted so they were cupping Starscream’s aft. “Is this going to go any further?” he inquired, cocking a brow, and suddenly wondering what Starscream’s endgame was. 

“Only if you want it to,” then he paused, his eyes widening with a perk as if something had just dawned on him. “Wait a klick,” he took a moment of what appeared to be deep thought. It almost looked like he was doing a system’s check. “Frag,” he swore under his vent. He looked back to Grimlock, putting a smirk back on. Or at least something similar to a smirk. It was more disappointed than cocky. “Sorry, big guy, looks like we’ll have to wait,” he poked the dinobot in the chest, leaning ever closer. “Unless you want a sparkling running around.” 

Grimlock had to think over the statement for a moment. A sparkling? What was he--

Oh. 

“You’re open?” Grimlock inquired. 

Starscream merely nodded. 

Grimlock took a moment to think over the matter. His hands never left his seeker’s hips. “We could not use our sparks,” he proposed. 

“Yeah,” Starscream drawled. “But where’s the fun in that?”

“I can be fun if you do it correctly.”

Starscream shrugged. “Maybe,” he climbed from Grimlock’s grasp. “But I’d rather not take the risk. Spark or not,” Starscream abandoned his partner for the berth. “You can stay if you want, but we won’t be doing anything. Nothing notable at any rate.”

After a brief moment of thought Grimlock stood and followed the seeker to his berth. Starscream crawled into the bed, laying on his stomach with a tired slump. 

Every instinct within Grimlock was telling him to _ not  _ lay down beside the seeker. His processor wailed at him to leave now. To got home and sleep in his own berth, in his own apartment. With his brothers, his fellow dinobots, those he’d neglected for two days already. 

_ Go home.  _

Grimlock laid down. 

He put a hand tentatively on Starscream’s back. 

“What does this make us?” he asked, keeping his voice soft in the darkness.

Starscream hummed, closing his eyes and letting a smile slip onto his face. 

  
“Nothing important.”  


	4. Chapter 4

Grimlock woke up in a much different position than he fell asleep in. He found himself on his side with a seeker tucked quite comfortably against his chest. Starscream was still content in his slumber, and because of that Grimlock was reluctant to move. He ended up falling back into recharge for a few more hours. 

The second time he woke up Grimlock found his head being hugged against Starscream’s chest. Carefully Grimlock slipped his arms around the seeker and fell back into recharge for a second time. 

It was upon his third time waking up that Grimlock found himself alone in the berth. He sat up slowly, fatigue still pulling at his processor. Groggily Grimlock looked around the room. He found a cube of energon sitting on the bedside table, but his seeker was nowhere to be found. He had to reset his vocalizer a couple of times before speaking. “Starscream?” he called into the apartment. 

Only a few seconds later the seeker came wandering into the apartment with an armful of goodie boxes which he promptly added to a pile already accumulated beside the couch. He paused on his trip back into the hallway. He smirked. “Good morning,” he greeted. “Mind helping me bring in my bounty?” he proposed, stepping back out into the hallway. 

Grimlock carefully climbed from the berth, curious as to what Starscream was referring to. He got his answer after the memory came flying back into his processor. 

The Candy shop. 

They deliver. 

They must’ve delivered. 

“I got a too early knock at my door this morning,” Starscream explained, hauling in another few boxes. “I must’ve been out of my mind yesterday,” he grumbled, dropping his catch with the rest of it and going back to more. “are you going to help me or not?” he snapped, glancing back at Grimlock as he stepped back into the hallway where a fair amount of boxes remained.

After a short moment of thought, and a longer moment of observation, Grimlock stepped into the hall and took his share. One armful ended up covering more than half of what remained. He dropped it with the rest before going back for the remaining. When it was all inside Starscream promptly shut his door and went to stand beside Grimlock where he stared down at the mountain of goodie boxes. 

“I don’t remember getting this many,” Starscream grumbled. 

“Me neither.” Grimlock agreed, crossing his arms. 

“Maybe you intimidated them into giving us more,” Starscream proposed bluntly. After another moment he shrugged and turned away from the pile. “Oh well, the more the merrier I suppose,” 

Grimlock’s eyes followed the seeker until he had to turn to see him. “Where are you going to put it all?”

Starscream shrugged. “Right there, probably.”

Grimlock looked between the seeker and the boxes for a moment before putting in his two cents. “You can’t just leave them here. It’s a mess.” 

Starscream scoffed. “This from the Dinobot. I’ve seen your apartment, big boy, you’re not one to talk.”

Grimlock scowled. “Me Grimlock and them Dinobots  _ clean _ apartment. This place hardly looks lived in,” his attention turned back to the table where the many bottles of high grade still rested from the nights before. More bottles hid behind the couch. “You Starscream just hide messes.”

Another scoff. “Hardly. I let them accumulate into piles then clean them up. It’s not like I’m entertaining, Dinobot, I don’t _ have _ to have a crystal clean apartment all the time. Nobody is coming over here any time soon.” 

Grimlock stood stoic for a moment. “I come over.”

At that Starscream paused. He looked over his shoulder at Grimlock trying to find something to say. When he opened his mouth to speak nothing came out. He reset his vocalizer before trying again, this time tripping over his words. “Well you didn’t before,” he managed to spit out, slipping some venom into his tone. “No one else comes over."

“Does that mean I don’t matter?”

“Yes,” Starscream spat, turning sharply to the bot. The answer was too quick. Too harsh. He regretted it immediately. “No,” he corrected. He growled. “Stop trying to guilt trip me, Dinobot!” 

“I’m not trying to guilt trip you. Not everyone is working against you, you know.” 

“Oh now that’s a riot. _ Everyone _ is against me, or haven’t you noticed?”

“I’m not against you--”

“Oh _ please _ . Don’t try to feed me that scrap, if you had nothing against me then you wouldn't so blindly follow Skyfire’s order to practice keeping track of me!”

Grimlock took a decisive step forward, sending the smaller bot flinching backwards at his suddenly looming presence. “I am blind to nothing,” he growled darkly. “Me Grimlock  _ want  _ to spend time with you. If you don’t want me here, don’t _ invite _ me.” 

Starscream stood tall against the intimidating figure, having recovered quickly from his initial flinch. Grimlock poked him in the chest. “I don’t like being called a liar,” he clarified, then standing up straight and removing himself from Starscream’s personal space. “Just because you are, doesn’t mean everyone else is.” 

At that Starscream merely sneered. He crossed his arms over his cockpit. “That’s a naive way to think about it,” he spat. Grimlock was going to shoot back with something but Starscream interrupted him. “ _ Everyone  _ is a liar, Dinobot, you should know that just as well a I do.  _ Anyone _ can be a liar, it’s just a matter of time and circumstance until they get there,” he pointed a sharp finger at the much larger dinobot. “Don’t try to play yourself off as so innocent.” 

After a long moment of just staring at the rigid seeker Grimlock cocked a brow. “You’re really not use to people caring about you are you?”

Starscream sputtered, completely blindsided by the reply. He huffed as if he were offended. “Care about me?” he spat. “What does that have to do with--” he was cut off by Grimlock stepping uncomfortably close once again. Starscream leaned back as Grimlock leaned forward. “I want to care about you,” Grimlock proposed casually. “It would give me something to do,” he joked dryly. 

Starscream sneered, pushing the dinobot away. “Meaning it would give you something to frag,” he snorted. 

Grimlock shrugged. “Didn’t frag last night,” he stated simply. “No problem not fragging ever,” he leaned in close again. “If that’s what you want.” 

Starscream sneered. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, dinobot, but there’s been nothing built between us.” 

Grimlock boldly moved in to nuzzle the fuming seeker. Starscream, though surprised by it, accepted the gesture. His tense frame eased, and bright optics dimmed. Starscream carefully reached up and put a hand on either side of Grimlocks large head. “Careful,” Starscream warned absently. “I could scratch your eyes out.”

Grimlock chuckled lightly at the almost threat. “I’ll be careful,:” he assured, his deep voice rumbling against Starscream’s neck, sending a shudder through the smaller frame. 

Starscream scowled, though stayed close. “If this is some veiled attempt to “tame” me--”

“It’s not.” 

“You didn't like me yesterday. What reason would I have to believe that's changed?“

“I didn't know you yesterday.” 

Starscream sneered. “You don't  _ know  _ me  _ today _ ,” he practically squeaked when a large hand wrapped around his waist and tugged him closer. He glared daggers at the dinobot, not amused with being ‘handled.’ Grimlock released his hold, seeming to know he’d done wrong.

Starscream took a step back. The two merely stared at eachother for a moment before Starscream turned on a heel and left. “We’re going to be late,” he said, shoving the door open. “We can finish talking about this later.”

Grimlock cocked a brow, carefully following the seeker out. “There’s a later?” 

Starscream rolled his eyes, waving a dismissive hand. “There’s always a later with you,” he grumbled. “Considering you don’t seem to like  _ dropping _ things, I doubt I have a choice.” 

“Would you rather I be more formal?”

“Yesterday you wanted nothing to do with me, now today you’re all of a sudden interested in trying to be in a relationship,” Starscream turned sharply to Grimlock, stopping the larger in his tracks. “That’s awfully suspicious, Dinobot, considering I offered you my body. It’s more likely that one in your position is waiting for me to be closed so that he can get a good frag then leave me for scrap,” he turned and started on his way again. “And considering how much you enjoy staring at me I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the reality of the situation.” 

Grimlock growled to himself. He didn’t like the implication that he would even consider taking advantage of another bot like that. He took opportunities when presented, but wouldn’t manipulate his way into, what Starscream referred to as, ‘a good frag.” While Grimlock was not a sentimental mech, he knew that such trivial things were worth another bot’s processor. 

“You’re just scared,” he spit out. 

That stopped Starscream instantly. 

“That I’m going to do to you what everyone else has.”

Starscream, now a few paces ahead, turned sharply to Grimlock but didn’t speak. Grimlock continued. He shrugged lazily. “Makes sense. Bot says one thing, turns out to be other. Makes sense. Me, Grimlock, just asking for opportunity,” he shook his head. “No interface.”

Starscream huffed. “Then what are you going to do with me?”

Grimlock furrowed his brow. “Being in a relationship is more than interface...you know that, right?”

Starscream sputtered, seemingly thrown off. His wings hiked up. “Of course I do!” he screeched, armor stiffening. He tried for a scowl but ended up with more of a pout. With an annoyed keen and nothing else to say the jet turned on a heel and marched back down the hallway. 

Grimlock assumed the years of ‘peacetime’ must have softened Starscream’s processor some. The seeker was known for his silver tongue, he used to be able to talk himself out of anything, and lie his way into anywhere. To see him stuttering and tripping over his words at the mere accusation that he might have  _ feelings  _ seemed odd and out of character for the seeker. Maybe the years had worn on Starscream worse than Grimlock had originally thought. While Starscream had managed to keep his usual bitter disposition, it couldn’t take the place of wit and cunning. 

Grimlock followed the fuming seeker, keeping the thoughts in the back of his mind as they made their way to the lab and started working. 

As soon as they entered Starscream rushed to his product faster than anyone had seen him move in a long time. He heaved the still humming motor off it’s shelf and quickly delivered it to his adopted work table. He stared in awe at the still rumbling machine before managing to pull his processor out of it’s trance and get to work. He quickly checked it’s internals, seeing if everything on the inside had been repaired or if the machine was just running on fumes. 

After going through all the checks what must’ve been a hundred times Starscream, with wide optics, rested a disbelieving hand atop his machine. 

“It works,” he whispered. A smile began to slip onto his face. “It works!” he cried, optics brightening as he threw his arms into the air. He leaped, over taken with his own excitement. ‘It works!” he called again. “Take that _ , Ratchet! _ ”  

Skyfire made his way over to the overly excited seeker. “Congratulations, Starscream,” he said, letting a small smile onto his face despite his efforts to stop it. “You’re going to run more tests, right?”

“Of course I am,” Starscream spat, though the smile remained on his face. “I’ve got to get an arm, and a leg, and a helm, and a live mech--”

“Alright, alright, slow down. We’ll see to it you get what you need. That is, if Optimus is willing to renew your grant,” the last part was a mumble.

Starscream paused in his celebration. “My--” he took a moment to think. “I should have enough left for the second half of the project. It’s supposed to be renewed automatically as long as I continue to cooperate.” 

Skyfire seemed to grimace, dreading the inevitable reaction to what he was about to say. “It would,” he started carefully. “If Optimus hadn’t cut you off.” 

There was a short lull. 

Then an ear rippling screech. 

Starscream’s yelling was incoherent through his overwhelming voice.

Grimlock managed to catch some things. Something about idiotic leaders and their cheap, flakey promises. He screeched about Soundwave and Optimus Prime’s petty quarrels, and that his research was vital to certain species survival, and the revival of the planet and their population. 

After it dumbed down slightly Skyfire reactivated his audio receptors. “You’re welcome to request another grant from the facility, but all large financial endeavours have to be filed through Optimus. Take it up with him if you want to screech at anyone.”  

“I will!” Starscream roared before stomping to the door and flinging it open. His angry determination seemed to resonate throughout the hallways as he marched through the facility and out the door. Everyone parted in his wake, not keen to get in the way of a very obviously enraged Starscream. 

After he was gone Skyfire looked to Grimlock. “You’re on the clock,” he said bluntly. “Make sure he doesn’t do anything rash.” 

Grimlock narrowed his optics. He didn’t like being bossed around. 

Despite this he followed the order.

He trailed Starscream, feeling no need to catch up with him as it was obvious where the seeker was headed. By the time Grimlock arrived outside of Optimus Prime’s office he could already hear the unmistakable voice of Starscream growling from the inside. He decided it best to wait outside until the worst had passed. 

 

* * *

 

Starscream slammed a hand on the Prime’s desk, all formalities flying out the window. “I was promised a full,  _ renewed _ grant, so long as my research continued to heed results!” Starscream reminded the Prime sternly. He pointed a sharp finger at the unmoving leader. “I’ve been over here for over a year, and my projects have heeded results! I stay on your stupid curfew, I bind my wings, and I don’t cause trouble! I have followed every single idiotic rule you’ve put in place, and I’ve completed all the projects assigned to me within a reasonable amount of time!” he leaned off the desk. “Soundwave has yet to request my presence back in Decepticon territory,” he growled. “This is grossly unfair.” 

Optimus sighed, pinching the ridge of his nose. “Most of the grant you received you’ve used on a  _ personal project _ . Not part of the agreement.”  

Starscream appeared ready to explode. 

“Personal project!?” he roared. “What I’m doing could help  _ million _ of bots!”

“But you’re not making it for them, are you?” Optimus shot back. 

Starscream rolled his optics in annoyed disbelief. “You have to be  _ kidding me _ ,” he spat. “You’d take away an opportunity to create a  _ revolutionary _ substance that can help  _ millions of bots _ , as well as the _ planet itself  _ because  _ I’m _ not doing it on  _ altruistic _ enough  _ motivation!?” _

Optimus stood his ground, never wavering from the implication. 

Starscream waited for some sort of reply. 

All he got was a prideful stance. He huffed. “Unbelievable,” he mumbled, pinching his brow. “You’re right, Prime, I’m  _ not _ doing this for other people, I’m  _ barely _ doing it for the person I’m doing it for,” the scowl on his face grew deeper. “I hope you’re happy when you grow too old for your rusty old part to be  _ replaced _ ,” with that he took his leave, stomping out of the room the same way he came. 

He passed Grimlock on the way out, initially meeting the dinobot with surprise before his gaze turned to a disapproving, almost disappointed, glare. He charged off, forcing himself not to look back. 

Grimlock watched him go, waiting until he was around the corner before trying to decide exactly what he should do. He looked between the hallway and the Prime’s office. 

He knew that one of his options would put him in better standing with the seeker. Give him an opportunity to share another night in the same berth. Maybe more than one night. 

He entered the office. 

The door clicked shut behind him. 

Optimus took a moment to greet him, still recovering from his meeting with the seeker. He perked to attention as soon as the dinobot caught his gaze. “Grimlock!” he greeted with surprise. “What--” he took a moment to compose himself. “What brings you here?” 

Grimlock could tell he was smiling under that mask. It was a false smile, one reserved for strong enemies one wants to befriend. 

Grimlock ‘humphed’ crossing his arms over his chest. 

“You, Optimus Prime, broke promise.”

The Prime seemed taken aback by this accusation. “I..I’m not sure what you mean--”

“The grant,” Grimlock bit out. “You promised him, Starscream, full renewed grant if he stay in Autobot territory.”

Prime seemed to ease at the elaboration but his eyes still held concern.“Grimlock, I’m afraid you don’t understand.”

That drew a growl from the dinobot. “Me, Grimlock, understand just fine. You, Optimus, don’t like Starscream. Promise is promise. Me, Grimlock, not know of honorable leader who goes back on that. On paper or not.” 

Optimus seemed to be at a loss. He wanted to give an explanation but he had none, that much was obvious. Grimlock stood his ground, stiff as a rock, field resonating his anger and dissatisfaction. 

Optimus eased in defeat. “You want me to renew his grant, don’t you?”

Grimlock wanted to give a simple ‘yes’ but such words were too simple. Too easy to say ‘no’ to. So instead he went with a threat, one that would really get his point across. 

“You renew grant,” he started darkly. “Or us Dinobots  _ leave _ .” 

Optimus seemed to flinch at that, but it was so subtle barely an optic could catch it. 

Grimlock caught it. 

He knew he’d hit his mark. 

“I’ll consider it,” the Prime said after a moment. He lifted a suspicious brow. “I'm wondering, though, why you seem to care so much.” 

Grimlock stepped forward until he was looming just over the desk. He leaned down, getting eye to eye with the Prime. “Me Grimlock care that our leader is treating his citizens  _ fairly.  _ Decepticon or not.” 

“The Decepticons are no citizens of mine.”

“Your  _ guests _ then.” 

Grimlock leaned away, finished talking with the leader. “one day. Or me and my Dinobots leaving,” he threatened again. “Choose wisely.” 

With that the Dinobots left, leaving a very angry Prime in his wake. 

 

* * *

 

Grimlock returned to the lab to find Starscream just sitting staring at his successful invention. A sullen look rested on his face as a light hand rested upon the humming engine. 

“All this work,” he muttered, sensing the Dinobots approach. “ _ wasted _ ,” he spat, clenching the fist atop his machine. 

“...Why not return to the Decepticons then?” Grimlock proposed carefully. “Your own kind is more likely to give you money for your research than Prime.” 

Starscream puffed a cynically entertained 'tsk’ turning to Grimlock. “most of our resources go to Shockwave and the other “real” scientists and engineers,” he turned back to his work. “I’m here because Soundwave wanted to be-rid of me and Prime accepted the challenge,” his voice lowered. “Everyone wants to tame the seeker,” He spat under his breath, eyes narrowing with hatred at the idea. He turned sharply to Grimlock, who still stood behind him. “but it appears as though my purpose here has expired,” he sighed, leaping off his stool and heading for the door. He stopped in the entryway, shooting a sly smirk at his keeper. “Which means, in essence, yours has too.” 

Then he was gone, exiting the lab with a less than fond farewell. 

Before Grimlock could think much of the words his comm pinged. He expected to find one of his Dinobots yelling at him on the other end. Instead the deep, unmistakable voice of Optimus Prime left a message in his data banks. 

“Fine,” was all he said. 

Grimlock smirked to himself. He glanced over at Skyfire who was working on something under a microscope. Only a few seconds after Grimlock received his message Skyfire received his. 

Grimlock turned his attention back to the door. 

Starscream should be receiving his any klick now. 

 

* * *

 

Starscream was very angrily picking his empty bottle from the floor so he could shove them into the incinerator before heading off. He was mumbling to himself, grumbling about how unfair it was and how stupid Optimus Prime was. 

His comm pinged after he stood from picking up the fifth bottle. “what?” He bit into the communicator. 

“Starscream,” Optimus greeted smoothly. “it appears as though there's been a mistake. Your Grant has been renewed.”

Starscream was surprised for a second before it quickly turned to suspicion. “If this is some sort of power play I swear--” 

“It's not. I assure you.”

Starscream groweld. He didn't like being played. This felt like a play. “There was no mistake,” he snapped. “What's really going on? Did something happen with Soundwave?” 

The Prime was silent for a second. Too long of a second.

“Prime--!” 

“Let's just say you have friends in high places,” Optimus finally answered. “very  _ powerful  _ friends.” 

The anger from Starscream's frame melted away in an instant and was replaced with pure shock. The bottles he was holding slipped from his grip. The sound of glass breaking snapped Starscream from his trance. He swore under his vents, stepping out of the horde of broken bottles.

“Starscream?” The Prime questioned. 

“I'm still here,” Starscream answered quickly. “I'll have to--  _ thank  _ my friends in high places.” 

Starscream could have sworn he heard the Prime scoff. “I'm sure you will,” he replied smoothly. He cut the line before Starscream got the chance. 

He stood there for a moment, a million thoughts running about his mind. It was the brute, he just knew it. It had to have been Grimlock, no one else was there. No one else was currently pretending to give two shits about him or his well being. No one else was considered “powerful” in the way Optimus’ tone suggested, and Starscream  _ certainly _ didn’t have any friends.  

It was the dinobot, it  _ must’ve _ been. The only real question was ‘why?’ no one could be that determined to get in someone’s plating. Determined or crazy enough to go against their _ Prime. _ Their ultimate ruler for goodness sakes. 

Then it hit him. 

Crawling from the depth of his mind a thought, a very seemingly unlikely thought, smacked him in the head. 

_ Grimlock cared.  _

Starscream tried to shake it away. No no. Starscream was  _ Starscream  _ and nobody cared about him. It didn’t  _ happen.  _ Grimlock must’ve been playing a game, playing like everyone else. Maybe he was experimenting, like this is a project. He was testing the waters, trying, like everyone else, to _ tame the seeker _ . 

Starscream scowled. Then smirked. 

Grimlock wanted to play? 

_ Fine _ . 

He’d get his game. But Starscream was going to get his.

 

* * *

 

It was unsurprising when Starscream came storming back into the lab. It was slightly more surprising when he marched right past Grimlock and went directly to his work bench, not even sparing the dinobot a glance. 

He turned down  any assistance when offered, and ended up, for reasons completely unknown, ignoring Grimlock entirely for the remainder of the day. He didn’t even huff or swear when the lab was shutting down and Skyfire assigned Grimlock to escort the seeker back to his room. 

This behavior, to put it simply, was doing a good job of pissing Grimlock off. He wasn’t one to demand praise for his aid, or even a great deal of acknowledgement, especially when he was not actually  _ asked _ to give his assistance. To be blatantly ignored, however, in any circumstance, always did a good job of getting on his nerves. Grimlock was about ready to call the seeker out. 

That was until he was grabbed by the collar and promptly dragged into Starscream’s apartment. 

A pair of lips met his faceplate before he was invited to nuzzle the smaller demanding bots neck. 

“I know it was you,” Starscream whispered into his audio receptor. “ I don’t know what game you’re playing, big boy, but I don’t mind hanging on for the ride.”

Grimlock’s massive hands reached up and cupped the much smaller hips. “No games,” he rumbled. “Just experiments.”  

Starscream smirked. “Does that experiment involve sharing a berth again?”

Grimlock’s grip tightened. “If you want it to.”

“Don’t you have dinobots to get to?”

“They can wait.”

Before Starscream could protest he was lifted off his pedes and carried bridal style to the berth. He reveled in the attention, smirking all the way. He didn’t like being “handled” but being handled like this he couldn’t protest. 

Grimlock laid down beside him. He rested a heavy hand on his seeker’s back as they began to drift into recharge. “What does this make us?” he asked, keeping his voice hushed in the dark.

Starscream smiled under the safe weight of his partner. He scooted closer, reveling in Grimlock’s warmth for a moment before answering. 

  
“I don’t know.” he sighed. “But I’m sure we’ll find out.” 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chaoter mentions a few relationships the are either current (Ratchet/Wheeljack) or something that used to be a thing (Skyfire/Starscream) They're not big or important, just mentions that aren't in the tags and wanted to give you guys a heads up.
> 
> Enjoy!

Starscream wasn't one for public affection. That didn't always stop Grimlock from stealing a kiss in the lab when no one was watching, or nuzzling his partner in the hallway before they parted. Though they did not find themselves parting often at the end of a long shift. More often than not Grimlock stayed the night, much to the disdain of his Dinobots brothers. 

Swoop thought the two were 'cute’ as he so lovingly called them, while Sludge and Snarl were less than pleased about the new development, and Slag was full on against it. Grimlock didn't put a great deal of thought into it, he wasn't exactly expecting them all to be accepting of his choice of partner. While he never wanted to lose the trust of his brothers, he also wasn't about to allow them to dictate his relationship decisions. To that, Slag huffed.  

“I hope the interface is good,” he spat, the morning after Grimlock arrived home after another night at Starscream's. Grimlock scowled at the comment. “No interface,” he said sternly. 

For a moment Slag seemed surprised by that, but it was soon replaced with anger. “then what's the point?” 

Grimlock merely stared at his brother. “you're the worst,” he eventually said. 

“I'm the worst!?” Slag raged, stepping forward. “I'm not the one ignoring his brothers for a pair of pretty wings!”

“I am  _ not  _ ignoring you.” 

Slag eased back, crossing his arms. “oh yeah? How long has it been since you answered my comms? _ Any  _ of our comms.” 

Grimlock remained silent. 

“ _ A week.  _ It's been a week since you've made any  _ attempt  _ to contact us, and you're leaving tomorrow! But you're too busy cuddling with your  _ seeker  _ to notice, aren't you?” 

Grimlock merely growled. Technically Slag was right, but Grimlock wasn’t about to let him have the satisfaction of being so. Instead he ignored his peeved brother and slipped past him to sit on the couch. “Here now,” Grimlock stated flatly. “Want to kick me out?” 

After a moment of something eerily similar to pouting Slag eased. Reluctantly he came to sit beside his brother and watch the vid-screen. It was silent for a while, before either spoke again. 

“When you come back,” Slag started. “Come home...Dinobot home.”

Grimlock took a moment to reply. Longer a moment than Slag seemed comfortable with. 

“I’ll come home,” he finally said. “Come home. Stay home. Visit Starscream.” 

Slag almost smiled. “Good,” he grunted, then turning his attention back to the vid-screen. “If you said no we Dinobots change locks.”

“Me Grimlock smash through door,” he replied casually. 

“Get new door too...Move. We would just move.” 

“Don’t be stupid,” Grimlock scoffed, changing the channel. 

“You Grimlock stupid.”

“You Slag stupid.”

A higher pitched voice rang out from behind them. “Me Swoop think you both stupid,” he proclaimed, coming up behind them and leaning over the couch before leaping over and sitting between them. 

“So,” he started turning his attention to Grimlock. “How Starscream?” He asked, smirking with a more suggestive tone that Grimlock was comfortable with. 

“He fine. Tired. Asked to be alone today.”

“Oh no,” Swoop gasped, falsely dramatic. “He’s tired of you already.”

Grimlock huffed a small laugh. “Spends lot of time in lab. Stresses self out. Him Starscream like a ball of walking overcharged sensors. Always uptight.”

“You needed to date him to know that?” Swoop grumbled, settling himself further into the seat. 

Grimlock nudged his brother with his shoulder. “No, just a bonus,” he mumbled, internally smirking. Swoop nudged him right back. 

It was nice being back with his brothers. It was calm, despite the chaos of their apartment. Four Dinobots stuffed into one place, no matter how big, always spelled trouble. It was comfortable being surrounded by his brothers in their large apartment. The mess, the warmth, the familiarity. 

Starscream’s apartment was cold. It was temporary, fake, unlived in. There was a pile of bottles hidden behind the couch, but nothing in the apartment seemed to be touched. The chairs at the dispenser didn’t move. Everything had a very thin layer of dust over it. No seat dents marked the couch, there was one container of soap in the otherwise empty wash racks, and the only indication Grimlock had that anyone lived in the apartment were the skewed about covers he woke up to every morning. 

Starscream was tense. Grimlock could feel it every time the seeker clung to him in recharge. Every time Grimlock stole a tiny kiss in the lab. Every time they shared a drink together. He began to wonder how long the seeker had been like that, and often wondered what he could do to aide it. Of course, it seemed like nothing, considering nothing had worked so far. 

That didn’t stop Grimlock from trying. Grimlock had much admiration for his fiery seeker. Starscream was short tempered and mean, easily frustrated and had a tendency to snap and snarl. But Grimlock was used to all of these things. It just so happens that he’s also persistent and determined, confident, and witty, when he wants to be. The fire just fueled Grimlock’s desire for the mech. 

Despite this, though, Grimlock needed his time. Time to spend with his brothers, time to let Starscream cool off. They would be spending plenty of time together in the next month, Grimlock could have all of Starscream that he wanted then. 

Until then Grimlock would be spending the day with his brothers, hardly a worry in the world. 

 

* * *

 

Starscream groaned, turning over in his berth. Primus, did he feel like slag. Processor ach, tanks churning. The works. He could only assume it was something he’d eaten the night before. Maybe one too many energon goodies. A bit too much work. Not enough energon. Who knew? 

And of course Starscream couldn’t get his frustrations out in the lab. Apparently it was “off limits” today. Stupid Skyfire and his stupid rules and preparation. It was infuriating. In reality Starscream should have been helping him prepare, considering he was part of the team flying in, but  _ nooooooo _ , Skyfire didn’t want him anywhere near the equipment, not yet anyways. Even in the field he probably wouldn’t be allowed to handle the equipment. They were probably just letting him come along to keep an eye on him and douce any accusations of unfairness between factions. 

Starscream hated such belittlement. Even more he hated how much they all liked to dance around the truth and satisfy him for the sake of keeping him calm like he was some beast they threw a steak to every time he bared his teeth. Knowing Optimus Prime he’d make hardly an effort to do anything more. 

Whatever. Frag them. Starscream would be enjoying the nights snuggled up to his tent partner, not a care in the world. No steak they could throw could be better than that. 

Despite how oddly comfortable Starscream found himself around Grimlock he couldn’t help but fear it was all a rouse. Something Grimlock had been hired to do to keep him calm, keep him in line. It was a terrifying thought, but Grimlock seemed genuine enough. Plus, any scheme like that would have been cooked up by the Prime, and Grimlock couldn’t  _ stand _ Optimus. Though that only ignited in Starscream a different fear that Grimlock was doing this to  _ spite  _ the Autobot leader. 

If that were the case Starscream wouldn’t mind as much. There were few things he’d love more than showing Optimus where he could shove it, and doing so by having intimate relations with the bot Optimus was so  _ desperate _ to get on his side. It would be a win for both Grimlock and Starscream. Then again they didn’t really have any  _ intimate _ relations, as the term was commonly used, but Starscream was a master at innuendos. A couple dates, some cuddling, and one meaningful conversation was about all the Dinobot and Jet had between them at the time. For a week in they were doing pretty good. 

Starscream rolled over. He’d given Grimlock the day off. Meaning Grimlock had woken up, rinsed off, gave him a goodbye nuzzle, and said he’d see him tomorrow. All the while Starscream laid half asleep and grumbling, half draped in too cold sheets. So Grimlock wouldn’t be visiting today, and Starscream had already made the decision not to pursue him. The big lug deserved a day off, considering how much time they’d spent together. It was amazing, really, the Dinobot had spent nearly every waking moment with Starscream. Anyone else probably would have shot themselves by now. 

What he would do for the day was a mystery. No lab. No Grimlock. Nothing to do. Starscream reluctantly sat up, taking a second to look around his apartment. There was some cleaning to be done. Though Starscream never liked to waste his time on that. Flying was an option. 

If he was willing to travel into neutral territory. Which he wasn’t. Too far. Too many people.

Starscream didn’t necessarily care about the patrons on the street. They certainly didn’t intimidate him. He just couldn’t be bothered trying to sift through crowds, put the effort into ignoring death glares and rude walkers, or try to navigate his position from the ground. It was awful not being able to fly. So much slower, so much more cumbersome. Starscream hated it, probably more than he’d hated anything in a long time. 

So, without anything to do Starscream laid back down and tried his hardest to fall back into recharge, to no avail. Already having had sat up, factored in with the fact that it was past midday, helped Starscream’s systems to start themselves up for the day. 

Starscream groaned into the berth. The last thing he wanted to do was get up. But his body ached with oversleep and his tanks churned demanding energon. With an annoyed grunt Starscream forced himself up again and shuffled into the wash rack. The shower was quick and far too cold for his liking, but it did the job. 

The rest of the day was spent watching nothing on the vid-screen and working on his formula. Of course, held up in his room he could do nothing but work in theory. Eventually he found himself surrounded by a slew of data-pads, all of which contained something at least remotely useful to him.

The end of his pen was nearly chewed off by the time the sun began to sink below the city. Starscream didn’t even realize night had fallen until he looked up and found the only light in the apartment was coming from the data-pad in his hand.  

A ping at the door helped to further jolt him from his trance. With still slightly wide optics Starscream wandered over to the door and allowed entry without even checking to see who was behind it. “Grimlock,” he greeted, slightly taken back by the Dinobots presence. “I thought you weren’t coming ho-- here. Tonight. Sleeping at your apartment.”

“I am,” Grimlock replied, ducking a bit to step into the apartment. “Just wanted to visit for a moment, I know you don’t leave your apartment,” he clarified, walking past Starscream and further into the apartment. The large bot took a moment to survey the room, noting immediately the army of data pads spewed about the floor, couch, and table. Apparently Starscream had been busy. 

Behind him Starscream fumed. He could tell the brute was judging. Any second now he would come back over, put a hand on him, make some comment about how he should have gone out flying instead of stuck in his apartment doing work he could have done in the lab. Starscream waited for such a response. 

But none ever came. 

Instead when Grimlock turned back to him Starscream was met with a soft nuzzle, and an even softer. “You’ve been busy.”

“I have,” Starscream nearly spat, already having been ready to be on the defense. “What of it?”

“Did you get any further in your research?”

The question surprised Starscream. He replied the only way he could. With a snap. “Of course I didn’t,” he scowled. “I wasn’t allowed in the lab today.”

“You are fairly good at working in theory.”

Starscream scoffed. “Don’t patronize me,” he droned. 

Grimlock deepened the nuzzle. “So mean,” he mumbled into Starscream’s audio receptor. “Always so mean.”

Starscream eased, but only slightly. He reached up and grabbed his partner by the side on the head. “Come to make sure I wasn’t dead?” he inquired quietly, almost trying to make a joke but failing. 

Grimlock knelt down and hugged his seeker around the waist. “Something like that.” 

Starscream scoffed, hugging his head. “Soft spark,” he mumbled.

“Ten thousand years of peace will do that do a mech,” Grimlock commented, nuzzling his seeker’s chest before settling. “Ready for tomorrow?”

“More than ready...did you just come here to coddle me, or is there a purpose to your visit?”

After another moment Grimlock stood up. “No,” he said simply. “Just came to coddle. And say goodnight.”

He leaned down so he was mere inches away from Starscream’s face. “Kiss?” he requested. Starscream rolled his eyes, but grabbed the side of his partner’s head. “I don’t know why you insist,” he grumbled before delivering a soft kiss to Grimlock’s face mask. “It’s not as though you can enjoy it.”

Grimlock pressed his forehead against Starscream’s. “Enjoy it,” he assured. “Get sleep,” he demanded gently before standing up straight and heading to the door. “Will see you tomorrow.” 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Starscream mumbled his goodbye, not really sure if Grimlock actually heard it. 

After the door clicked shut Starscream turned back to his work. For a moment he just stared at it. The apartment was a mess, by his standards at any rate. 

But that didn’t matter now. 

Starscream forced his pedes to move, passing by the cluttered living room and moving to the berth. Having already slept all day he didn’t feel horribly tired. Apparently that didn’t matter, as he was asleep as soon as he hit the berth pad. 

 

* * *

 

The next morning Starscream was hailed much too early for his liking. Though it meant he was finally going to get out of this wretched city, so it wasn’t too much a bother. The benefits outweighed the costs in this case. Starscream rushed to clean himself up, gather up his datapads, and scurry to the lab. On his way he met Grimlock in the hallway, but was too concentrated on his destination to pay him a proper greeting. “Skyfire was afraid you wouldn’t get up,” he said. “So he sent me to get you.”

“Fascinating,” Starscream drawled dryly, sifting through his data pads. “When is Sky lynx arriving?”

“An hour after your departure.”

“Oh fantastic, then I won’t have to deal with that narcissistic turkey. Take this,” Starscream shoved a datapad in his partner’s chest. “Wheeljack might want it,” he clarified before continuing to look over what he’d brought with him. Grimlock could tell Starscream was lost in his own rushed world. The seeker walked in long fast strides, his concentration dead set on his notes. Grimlock couldn’t even be sure Starscream knew who he was talking to. 

“Will I be getting a goodbye, or a cold shoulder?” Grimlock inquired. In all honestly he didn’t care. Getting a proper goodbye in this case meant less than nothing to him. He was just curious to see how Starscream would answer.

“You don’t need a goodbye. I’ll be seeing you in two hours. Unless you die, in which case I suppose I could spare a moment.”

Grimlock snickered. “How sweet of you.”

Starscream sneered. “Don’t call me sweet.”

“I didn’t call you sweet I called your actions sweet.”

“Well don’t do that either.”

The two soon found themselves in the lab where everyone else had already gathered. Skyfire had waited for them to arrive before going over the basic rules. “Okay,” he started, standing before everyone. “I don’t want to do this again, so don’t make me. I know we have some-” he paused, looking between a couple of pairs. “ _ Couples _ on our trip, so I’ll tell you right now that you can interface, nobody gives a scrap, just, try to keep it quiet,” his gaze immediately snapped to Grimlock and Starscream. “There are other people on this trip. Nobody wants to hear that.”

Starscream scowled, putting his hands on his hips. “We don’t interface, you dolt,” he spat. 

“Right,” Skyfire answered stiffly. “And I don’t turn into a shuttle.” 

Starscream’s plating flared with anger at the accusation. Before he could stomp over there and give that shuttle a piece of his mind, however, Grimlock grabbed him lightly around the waist and held him back. Starscream continued to fume and glower but made no more attempts to move. “I could drop you, Dinobot, and don’t you forget it,” he growled quietly, crossing his arms. Grimlock’s only response was to rub the seeker’s shoulders. It did enough to keep him at bay. 

Skyfire continued to go over some of the rules. Simple things they’d all heard plenty of times before. ‘Don’t do anything that would cause a rockslide, don’t wander off alone unless it’s to bathe. No interface in the bathing pool, try not to break anything, don’t mess with equipment unless it’s being used for a purpose.’ His attention turned to Starscream again for that one. Grimlock had to hold on a little harder. 

The last rule was no PDA, or at least not anything excessive. This was a professional setting, they were there for research, not to coddle. Everyone agreed to the rules with a few snickers in between. After that everyone went their separate ways, Starscream leaving with Perceptor and Skyfire, while Grimlock stayed behind to load and travel with Sky Lynx. Neither really gave a goodbye, merely parting with a wave. 

Starscream half considered doing more, but the last thing he wanted was to flaunt their relationship in front of everyone. Grimlock had no such reservations but made it a habit respect Starscream’s decisions. Grimlock would make  point of greeting him when they arrived. 

 

* * *

 

Starscream enjoyed the flight into the mountains. It wasn’t delayed at all because there was no traveling outside the city before they could start the journey. Skyfire and he took off right from the Science centers landing pad. 

The flight was much too short for Starscream’s liking, despite it being nearly halfway across the planet in neutral territory. It had been so long since Starscream had gotten such free flight time any amount of time probably would have seemed to short. Days of flight would have been almost enough to satisfy the itch. 

Starscream flew a few miles ahead. Being the fastest flyer on Cybertron had it’s perks, but it also had it’s downfalls. To fly beside the slower paced Skyfire would have been torture for the jet, so he elected to fly just a few miles head at a more comfortable pace. It also gave him the opportunity to play around without the chance of Skyfire telling him to stop. Not as though he would, but Starscream wasn’t in the mood to be scolded. Skyfire probably wouldn’t mind, at any rate, considering he, too, was a flight frame, and certainly understood the freedom flight could bring. Starscream could also assume the shuttle sympathised with him enough, seeing as how Skyfire had his wings and was free to fly around Autobot territory while Starscream was not. 

Skyfire could be cold, but he wasn’t unkind. 

At one point during the flight Skyfire comm’d Starscream, asking for him to hang back a bit so they could talk. Reluctantly Starscream complied, significantly reducing his speed. “What is is?” he asked once they were almost beside eachother. 

“I was serious about the interfacing,” Skyfire said sternly. 

Starscream scoffed. “And so was I. Grimlock and I don’t interface.”

“Starscream-”

“I know you think you know me Skyfire, but a couple interface sessions millions of years ago mean  _ nothing _ . This only cements my belief that you were taking advantage of me back then.”

“I did no such thing,” Skyfire defended sharply. “You initiated those, and that’s not the point, we’re not talking about that. Sometimes reputations are laced with truths, I’m sure you know that better than anyone.”

“My “reputation” was stemmed from complete lies. You think I had the time or motivation to frag every bot on the Nemesis during the war? It was a  _ war _ , and you should know better than anyone the falseness surrounding my promiscuity. Grimlock and I don’t interface right now, we don’t  _ need _ that. Unlike you and I.”

“...That was a low blow.’

“To both of us. Plus, I don’t know what you’re worried about, you’ve been in my berth, you know what I’m like.”

“...It’s Grimlock I’m worried about.”

Starscream snickered. “Now _ that _ is probably justified.” 

Skyfire took a moment to reply. “You really don’t do you?”

“No. We don’t. I know I’m a liar, but I wouldn’t lie about something like... _ that _ . Especially if it makes  _ me  _ look bad. I'm sure you can understand.” 

If Skyfire were in root mode he would have shrugged. “I suppose.” He muttered, not having much else to say. 

Soon after that they arrived at the campsite. Starscream helped clear away a bit of mountain debris while Perceptor unloaded Skyfire. By the time the three got everything set up Sky Lynx called in in ETA before the comms cut out. 

“They’re about an hour out,” Skyfire announced. “We can probably relax for the time being. There’s not much else to do. If you want you can explore the area. Get familiar with what will be your home for the next month or so,” Skyfire pointed in a vague direction. “A little ways away there’s a solvent pool, if anyone wants to bathe or soak, or whatever you want to do with it. I’m sure I don’t have to tell either of you what  _ not _ to do with it,” Skyfire glared at his men. “Part of the reason we chose this site if for that. Makes less of a hassle for us, don’t have to bring as much.” 

Starscream smirked. “Good thing we didn’t bring Ratchet,” he mumbled mostly to himself. Perceptor stifled a laugh, covering it up with a cough. 

Skyfire held back a smirk before letting his face fall into neutral again. “Very funny, Starscream, but try to keep the teasing at a minimum.”

Starscream merely continued to smirk. “No promises.”

 

* * *

 

Wheeljack was fidgety. Grimlock had learned a little while ago now that Wheeljack was almost always fidgety. But this was a whole different kind of fidgety. A fidgety with glances that suggested he wanted to ask questions, but didn’t have the bearings to speak. 

It wasn’t annoying at first, but after about an hour of sitting beside him, watching him fidget out of the corner of his eye, Grimlock piped up. “You can ask,” he said bluntly, turning his attention to the smaller bot seated beside him. “Anything you want.”

“Of all bots,” Wheeljack started immediately as though he’d just been released from a prison. “How in the pits did you manage that?”

Grimlock shrugged. “Not hard. Him lonely. Me available.”

Wheeljack huffed. “Well, yeah, sure, but Starscream.  _ Starscream _ of all bots, the meanest, nastiest, screechiest bot to ever grace this planet. How the hell do you put up with him? I can barely stand sharin’ a lab with the guy, and you manage to share a berth! I mean I would imagine the interface is good, considering, but-”

“No interface.”

Wheeljack paused mid-gesture. His hands dropped to his lap. “He was really serious about that,” it was more of a statement then a question. Wheeljack slumped back in his seat, staring at the wall as if rethinking his entire existence. “Huh.”

Grimlock stared at him for a moment. “Are you going to be okay?” he eventually inquired, seeing as how Wheeljack looked as though he’d just lost everything he had ever loved.  

“Yeah,” Wheeljack answered absently. “Uh,” he shook his head. “Yeah-- yeah.”

Grimlock gave him a pat on the back. “It not that weird,” he assured casually. “Me Grimlock and Him Starscream just cuddle a lot.”

“I’m sure that’s comfortable,” Wheeljack grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. After another moment of silence and a couple more glances up at the Dinobot, Wheeljack spoke again. “How-- How do ya deal with the wings when ya do that?”

“Starscream like to hug Grimlock’s head. Usually facing each other. Wings not a problem.” 

Again Wheeljack turned his gaze forward with a. “Huh.” 

Grimlock assumed that would be every response. “Any more questions?”

“Gone on any dates?”

“Two.”

“Where’d ya take ‘im?”

Grimlock lifted a brow. “Why you assume I took him?”

“Lets just assume you took each other.” 

“Fair enough,” in all honesty their date was something out of a stupid romance novel. It was something Swoop had suggested, and yes, Grimlock was _ technically _ the one who took Starscream. Considering Grimlock was the one who’d been given the idea. They had gone to see Stars at a viewing point in neutral territory. Starscream reveled in their light, flying around in his root mode in something of a trance before returning to his partner and thanking him with a kiss. Not a word was spoken between them. Not one until they returned to Starscream’s apartment and climbed into bed. It was there that Starscream admitted to loving the stars. How much they reminded him of himself but differed with their purity. Something Starscream was so far past. The way he spoke sounded as though he envied them, while at the same time admired them. It was a strange thing to see. But in that moment Grimlock’s Seeker was tired, so he could only assume the words stemmed more from the fatigue than truth. 

Though, he could never be sure.

“Stars,” Grimlock answered bluntly. “We went to see Stars.”

“Oh well ain’t that nice,” Wheeljack commented, his entire demeanour having changed. Grimlock could tell he genuinely found it nice. “What else did ya do? Do anything before hand?”

Grimlock shrugged a shoulder. “Starscream doesn’t like to go out,” he fell out of his dumb demeanor. “I don’t try to make him.”

“Well where’d you go on the second one then?”

“Museum.”

Wheeljack seemed taken back by this. “Museum,” he repeated with surprise, leaning back slightly. “Which one?” he inquired, leaning back in. 

“War Museum. Starscream wanted to go. There was a section on him and he wanted to see it.”

It had made Starscream angry to see it. That old framed smirking seeker with guns and a scheme. It made sense, and the description of who he was and what he’d done was accurate. It just felt wrong to see. It wasn’t like looking in a mirror it was like staring at a stranger. They had left fairly quickly right after Grimlock got to see the Dinobot’s section. _ ‘I’m still horrible’ _ Starscream had said once they were out.  _ ‘But I’m not him.’  _

It was as though he was trying to assure Grimlock of something. The only thing Grimlock could think to do was put a hand around his shoulder. It was a rare time in which Starscream didn’t shrug him off because they were in public. To Grimlock’s surprise the seeker actually moved closer. 

“So what else do you guys do?”

Grimlock stared at the scientist, thinking over the question. “Talk. Not much though. Starscream not big talker.”

“Well he’s certainly big on screeching,” As soon as the words left his mouth Wheeljack threw a hand over his mask, embarrassed that he’d just let that slip. “I didn’t--”

“Starscream is screechy,” Grimlock agreed, not wanting to scare the poor guy. “Mean. Venomous. Selfish.”

“Now don’t go singing any of his good graces or anything,” Wheeljack muttered, almost surprised by how candid Grimlock was being. 

Grimlock shrugged a shoulder. “Not going to lie,” he said bluntly. “He’s all those things. But... many other things too.”

Wheeljack merely stared at him for a while before turning his attention forward again. “Well, whatever works,” he mumbled. “I’m glad it’s working out for you guys.”

 

* * *

 

As soon as the second group arrived Skyfire and the rest jumped into helping them unpack Sky Lynx and set up the equipment. Grimlock managed to do most of the heavy lifting on his own while the science guys got to setting up what he unloaded. 

At one point Grimlock glanced over to find Starscream watching from a little ways away. The seeker was biting a tallon, watching his significant other like a turbo fox watched it’s prey. Grimlock smirked to himself, glad he’d managed to draw his seeker’s attention. When everything was unpacked and Sky Lynx was gone Grimlock mosied over to his entranced partner. 

The sudden presence of his partner right in front of him seemed to jolt Starscream from his trance. The hand to his mouth was taken gently in Grimlock’s much larger one as the Dinobot knelt down before him. “Kiss?” Grimlock requested, keeping their heads close. 

Starscream smiled before giving his partner a soft kiss on the face plate. 

From a little ways away everyone watched. 

“Is this weird to anyone else?” Brainstorm inquired, lifting a brow. 

Perceptor waved his partner off. “Hardly. I’m sure we’ve seen weirder relationships in our lifetime.”

“I think it’s kinda nice,” Wheeljack commented, then looking up to Skyfire with a smirk. He nudge the larger bot. “Apparently Starscream’s got a  _ type _ ,” he teased. “An’ it’s  _ big _ .”

Skyfire smiled, gaze still set on the couple. “I think it’s sweet,” he commented. 

They stood in silence for another couple of moments just observing. 

“Fifty Shanix says they frag on this trip,” Skyfire bet bluntly. 

“I will take you on that bet,” Brainstorm piped up immediately. 

“I’m bettin’ with Skyfire,” Wheeljack put his in. 

“I’ll bet against so Brainstorm has someone to complain to when he loses,” Perceptor added. 

And thus, the betting pool was formed. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> hope that wasn't too bad. Thanks for reading!


End file.
